Shifting Dark
by Shivera
Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

Thanks to Chaos Babe, who inspired a little section of this chapter. Cheers duckie!

* * *

Escapes and Conversations

Azkabam was always cold, never saw sunlight, which could be a side effect of dementors, or could have been the reason for its location. Whatever the reason, the entire place was an icebox, but even the cold couldn't suppress the stench of misery and unwashed bodies.

Bellatrix hadn't been worried about her sanity before she started to find it homely.

"… itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water marks…" she giggled, still watching the insect climbing up the wall, if it was an insect, were spiders insects? Or were they bugs? What was the difference between insects and bugs anyway? Didn't people eat bugs? Weren't they rather crunchy?

Boredom really did send the mind down strange tangents…

A rat wiggled into her cell, sniffed the air and squeaked a bit.

Bellatrix reached for a stone she'd pried from the wall some years ago. It had been a rat who brought the news that took her lord to the Potters, her poor, wonderful lord…

The rat turned into a man, the rat man who had brought the information, in fact.

Hm… A bigger rock might be required… Strangulation was always an option…

He offered her two potions, and a fold of parchment with familiar, elegant handwriting on the outside.

_My faithful_

_Take the potions Wormtail gives you. One shall strengthen you, and the other shall unlock your animagus form. Remain in it as much as possible; it will shield you from the dementors effects somewhat. Escape if you are able, if not, stay strong, and await rescue. Do not risk your lives in foolish attempts. _

_We shall take our vengeance soon._

_Lord Voldemort_

Bellatrix closed her eyes, and kissed the signature before snatching the potions from the rat man.

Her lord bid her to escape, so she would escape.

Xxxxxxx

The guards were worried, very worried. The Lestrange bitch hadn't made a single sound in two days, and considering her habit of singing to herself, breaking into laughter at random moments and talking to herself that was a pretty good reason to believe something awful to be going on.

One of their newest members suggested that she might have finally lost whatever strange energy kept her going and died in her sleep. He was treated with great scorn for making such a stupid comment.

There were theories about Lestrange, and one of them, the least spoken of and most believed, was that she was never going to die. She was just going to carry on in her cell, and in a few centuries some stupid bastard was going to let her out, and then she was going to go on a mass murdering spree and hurt down all their grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, and fed them their own intestines.

There was something about the way she looked at people, something about the way she smiled, which made that all too easy to believe. She always had this look in her eyes that seemed to say 'I'll get you in the end, but no hurry, I can wait, I have time' and despite her famous insanity, they believed it.

They peered into her cell, but couldn't see her. In the end they drew straws over who would go in, and the pair, no-one would have gone in alone, with the misfortune of having to going in were regarded with pity.

They edged in, peering into every corner, and half relieved to see no-one there. If the bitch had escaped then she wasn't going to kill them. Not yet, anyway.

One yelped, and the other quickly did the same, reacting to sharp stings on their ankles without know what caused them, but dreading to find out.

Moments later the world was fading to black, and their wands were plucked from their nerveless fingers.

"Diffido. Expelliarmus. Diffido."

The last surviving guard backed away, wand hand shaking too much to hold aim on the woman bouncing in the door way, splattered with blood and smiling. The expression was too innocent, too sweet, her large, lavender eyes too calm.

"Corpses remain buoyant for several hours you know."

He finally managed to fix his wand on her, but too late.

As the green light flew at him, he wandered if, with the absence of children from him, she would go after his brothers' family.

Hopefully he didn't matter enough to her to warrant their deaths.

Xxxxxxx

Augusta unrolled the Daily Prophet with one hand, the other, and most of her attention, engaged in getting the marmalade before it vanished. Neville did eat a lot, and Harry was fond of marmalade as well.

Then she looked at the front page.

The marmalade dish landed on Augusta saucer, knocking both it and the teacup over with a sharp clatter of crockery. Harry and Neville both jerked to stare at her, not use to her dropping things.

Madame Longbottom was an almost deathly white, an expression of blank dread on her face.

"Grandma? What is it? Are you okay?"

"Oh Hecate." She breathed, breathing deeply. "Come here a moment, both of you. Let me hold you, just for a few moments."

Neville, not understanding why she needed this but knowing that she did, darted over and gave his grandmother a hug of unquestioning, undemanding affection. Harry, always more reserved, just placed a hand on her shoulder, and picked up the newspaper.

_Azkabam escape… Death Eaters… 5 dead… Lestrange, Rockwood, Carrow, Svenson, Trelor… _

He moved closer, wrapped an arm around Augusta shoulders, and sighed ever so softly.

Confused golden eyes met shadow filled green.

"Bellatrix Lestrange broke out of Azkabam."

Xxxxxxx

Narcissa was having a wonderful summer. Her husband home, her eldest children gone for a couple of weeks to give them alone time, and her youngest behaving beautifully. Utter bliss.

She opened the newspaper, and her summer was officially ruined. She proceeded to express her displeasure at this from a word learnt from her sister during a particularly bad day.

Andromeda had always been a potty mouth.

"Love?" Severus gazed at her, concerned. "What's wrong?"

She silently handed him the newspaper.

Severus hissed, his creature blood blazing through for a moment in bared fangs and eyes that reflected the light like those of a cat.

"We need to tell Miranda and Indigo."

"She wouldn't hurt them." Of that at least Narcissa could be certain. "However insane Bellatrix may be, she loves me, she'd never hurt my children."

"It isn't Bellatrix that worries me 'Cissa, it's what over people will do."

For the first time in her life Narcissa regretted her looks, similar to those of her sisters, and regretted that she had passed them on to two of her three children.

Xxxxxxx

The English visitors had caused quite a stir among the staff of the Summer Palace, for many reasons.

The first of which, was that none of them were youkai, though none of them were purely human either. Also, only one of them spoke any Cantonese, and he had a rather odd accent and spent too much time on the walls muttering about runes to be of much use translating for the other two. Lady Liren was catering to the girl Miranda and the tiny, but ferocious, albino woman Liale, who seemed to be a bodyguard. The princess seemed completely happy with the arrangement, and the trio got on like a house on fire, but it didn't sit right with the councillors or the servants.

The attention their emperor lavished upon the boy, Indigo, wasn't exactly helping matters. If his majesty wanted wards why not go to a reputable ward crafter? What possible use could this child be?

Well, they knew he could win an argument. The sergeant of the wall guard had taken it upon himself to make the boy's task difficult, and had left the discussion with ears ringing, cheeks burning and contemplating the biological possibility of a creature capable of spitting acid.

And shortly after that Captain Doukugakuji had come and expressed his displeasure at the entire incident.

Needless to say, Indigo had gotten his way, and the sergeant wasn't going to be deliberately stupid again.

Currently he was setting the wards and quite a few people had been obliged to change their opinions of his skills.

It was, interesting to watch. Indigo had walked slowly around the walls, eyes closed and a trail of symbols drifting from what looked like a pool of light held in his hands, and then, when he had returned to his starting point, he'd spat three words in a language nobody recognised. For a second a veil of white gold light had wrapped around the compound, and then fell slowly inwards, draping over the palace and gardens before fading out of sight.

Indigo sat down as though his legs had just given up on him, and smiled in satisfaction.

"Oh, I'm good…"

10 minutes later Indigo was still sitting on the wall, and Kougaiji had come to find him.

"You've set the wards then?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Anyone who comes here intending to steal from the building or the ward keeper is getting electrocuted. Hand."

Kougaiji, a tad bemused, held out a hand. Indigo dropped an orb of light into it, which sunk into his palm.

"Congratulations, you are now the ward keeper." Indigo smiled slightly. "Could make things interesting if diplomats come here, but I expect they disserve it."

"I'm not going to argue with that. Are you capable of walking?"

Indigo looked thoughtful for a moment, and then climbed to his feet, slightly unsteady, and walked carefully towards the stairs down to the gardens. Kougaiji followed.

"I hate being a kid again, bloody restrictions…"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"In terms of raw power I could ward this place without worrying. But, I'm young and human so my body doesn't cope well with channelling that much power. Humans just didn't evolve that way, so if I use to much I end up unable to move. It sucks."

"Confident in yourself, aren't you." Kougaiji eyed the stairs thoughtfully, and then picked Indigo up bridal style and carried him down them. "No struggling, I don't want you falling and breaking something."

"Put me down, I can walk. And I have every reason to be confident."

"Um, no. You're kind of cuddly."

"I'm too thin to be cuddly!"

Kougaiji smiled at Indigos expression of utter outrage. The blond huffed, gave up the argument and relaxed, though his expression promising a strange and inventive revenge to come.

"If you prank me, I'm setting Liren on you. What do you have reasons for your confidence?"

"First lifetime, son of a god who left Heaven and twin to Goku's pre-incarnation-"

"Whoa, hang on, how can Goku have a pre-incarnation. He was born from the Earth, and that rather implies his being a new soul."

Indigo was silent for a long moment, and then sighed very softly.

"My fault, more or less. I'd been poisoned and Shar, Goku to you, tied our life forces together. It kept me alive, but would have killed him if it stayed that way, Tyzarin and Mareth, that's Hakkai and Gojyo, got linked into the mess later. It was unnatural, and killing them. I broke us apart, before we died, but I had to destabilise us to do it. Buggered up the natural balance of elemental magic, and Shar ended up with only earth magic which, combined with his natural connection to Gaia, sent him into the earth soul. As he wasn't really a part of it, a new body was created for him, and thus we had Goku."

"The alter ego?"

"The imbalance of his magic caused a similar imbalance of the mind. And I broke a link he created because he couldn't let me go, took away support he'd always had, and depended on, and left him to die alone." Indigo sighed again. "He hates being alone."

"If it unbalanced Goku, shouldn't it have caused a similar unbalance in everyone one else involved?"

Indigo smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

"Kougaiji, what makes you think it didn't?"

Xxxxxxxxx

Ron had woken up late, and gotten the news from Percy, who was on his way out of the door.

Their mother's intense and noisy disapproval had become too much. Percy was spending the rest of the summer with his lovers, on a road trip that promised to take them to several muggle music festivals and might just end with them stuck somewhere in Europe.

Ron saw him off with good wishes, a caution against back street tattoo and piercing shops, and a stern order to never accept drinks from strangers.

Percy seemed a tad baffled by all of this, but promised to do as he was told.

Ron then got dressed, and flooed to Longbottom Manor

He found Neville and Harry in the living room, the one that was actually meant to be lived in and so was comfortable and a bit messy, as opposed to the parlour, which was very grand and rather cold and only used when they wanted to impress or intimidate someone.

"Hey. You two okay? Where's the boss lady?"

"Grandma's gone to bully Fudge into gettin' more security around Hogwarts, auror's probably. And they she's arranging new wards for the manor. We're fine."

Neville seemed a little subdued, but otherwise okay.

"Good. What ya doin' Harry?"

"Hm?" The Ravenclaw glanced up, looking distracted. "Oh, hello Ron. What did you say?"

Ron, slightly amused, repeated his question.

"I'm trying to work out how they escaped." Harry gave the newspaper a look that they normally associated with Indigo and spontaneous combustion. "They don't give any damn details! Would it kill them to give details?"

Faced with an enraged, information deprived Ravenclaw, the duo took the sane and sensible option, and backed away.

* * *

Next time:Hogwarts and Arguments


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

JediClaire: Cheers. Dumbles is sticking around for a while, alas, I need trouble makers.

xxcolourguardxx79: Yup. :)

Holysinner5527: I like nut chases, they're so much fun to write, and bella is just so, odd. She's fun.

Kazukimi: 'Ello. Read Raising Cain for more info on the pairings, probably no new ones this fic. Fudge deserrves to be hit with a handbag, with a brick in it...

digisammiegirl: Of course i will. He's warm, and was to tierd to dig his elbows in, but hugging Liren would probably be more comfortable... Does Harry really need an explaination?

FEARMEfrancis: Yup, be afraid.

Firehedgehog: Thanks.

* * *

Hogwarts and Arguments

Platform 9 and ¾ was even more crowded than usual, it was as though every available relative had turned out to see the children off, and then refused to leave until the Hogwarts Express was safely on the move. This was, in all likelihood, precisely what had happened. The break out had everyone on edge.

Still, the crowds parted before Madame Longbottom, peeling away from her, Neville and Harry and then drifting back to stare with an almost frightening fascination, and a horrible sort of pity.

Augusta's jaw tightened in barely contained fury, hating them all with a passion. Wasn't it enough that Lestrange was out, that they were in danger? Did they have to stare at them as though they were some kind of freak show as well? Bastards.

Her boys boarded the train in silence, and looked at her with concerned expression. They, the children, were worried about her. How odd.

"Stay safe." She told them softly. "Stick together, look after each other. When you're in Hogsmead, stay in groups and in the high street. If you see Lestrange, run. I mean it Neville."

Her grandson looked a shade mutinous, but held his tongue.

"We'll remember." promised Harry. "Look after yourself."

Augusta nodded, took a deep breath, and left, regally ignoring everyone as she departed.

Xxxxxxx

Shortly before the train left another group sweep onto the platform. They too were draw away from, but in a strange blend of fear, disgust and anger.

Pictures of all the escaped Death Eaters had been published in the Daily Prophet. All of their relations who had a strong resemblance to them had banded together to face the general public.

Isabella and Charles Rockwood resembled their parents too strongly for it to pass unnoticed. The Carrow twins had the same sharp bone structure as their father. Mikeal Svenson shared his uncle's great height and Nordic good looks. Edward DeVine hadn't even known he had an uncle Trelor until his photo was printed. Indigo Malfoy looked entirely too much like his aunt for comfort.

Hateful whispers followed them all the way to the train.

"_Death Eater brats-"_

"_They'll turn on us in an instant-"_

"_-shouldn't even be allowed in Hogwarts-"_

"_They're a danger to our children-"_

Not one of the Slytherins reacted. They had been taught from an early age to never show weakness to anyone they didn't know and trust. To show that this hurt them was unthinkable.

It didn't stop DeVine, who was only 12, kicking a wall as soon as they were safely on board the train.

Xxxxxx

Yuki watched, scowling darkly at the crowd through the half open window. She would remember faces, and devise suitable retribution, possibly something involving catfish…

"How could he?" whispered Susan. "How could he?"

"…What?"

"Indigo! How could he do that? He walked in with _them_! How could he?"

Yuki knew herself to be fairly intelligent, and she was a damn good Slytherin with all the skills that came with that somewhat dubious honour, but she really wasn't sure what had got Susan's back up. She could, however, make a decent guess.

"They can't help who their related to. Hell, DeVine wasn't even born when Trelor was imprisoned. They're just making sure everyone gets to Hogwarts safe."

"But why them? Rockwood's, bloody Rockwood's!"

"What about them?" Harry, it seemed, was getting involved, and he seemed faintly irritated.

"They killed my parents!"

There was a long, blank moment as everyone stared at furious Huffelpuff, who had apparently taken leave of her logic in the past ten minutes.

"Isabella was five when their parents were locked up." stated Flare slowly. "Charles was four. I really, really doubt they were in any way involved with your parent's deaths."

"Their parents murdered them!"

"Much as I hate to repeat myself, we can't choose who we're related to." Yuki eyed Susan, considering her expression. "The sins of the father do not pass to his children."

"They'd help them, wouldn't they? Everyone knows how loyal Darksiders are to each other! And those scum murdered my parents, good, honourable-"

_Smack._

It was a common feature among purebloods to posses what was generally called a 'psycho switch', a particular pet hate that could turn them from perfect manners and kindness to violence within seconds. It was considered very important to know what your psycho switch was, and keep people as far away from it as was possible.

Yuki had thought that she knew what hers was, but apparently she had 2 of them.

"Helena Greengrass was five years old." stated Yuki, oddly detached and unnervingly calm, even as Susan clutched the vivid hand shaped mark on her left check with an expression of blank shock. "During a raid she was hit by a bludgeoning curse, which shattered twelve of her ribs. Had either of your parents taken her to a healer, she would have lived, or even if my mother, a healer of some skill, had been permitted to treat her. It was your father who cast the curse, rather odd as Helena wasn't anywhere near any Death Eaters, or anyone fighting according to Mother, who isn't a sympathiser with the Dark Lord, even now. She had to watch Helena die, my Mother did, watch her eldest child die, slowly and painfully. Your parents made her watch. If you ever, ever try to tell me that that was the action of a good person, I will kill you."

Yuki gave her friend, who might not be a friend anymore, the icy smile that had resulted in her nickname, the one that was all cold and bright and broken glass sharp.

"You're lying." whispered Susan, eyes bright with unshed tears and anger. "Or misinformed. Your parents lied to you, they-"

The second psycho switch was hit with frankly unnerving accuracy.

Flare was out of his seat in under a second. He barley caught Yuki in time to stop her going for Susan throat.

"Yuki, my dearest and most awesome snow-girl in the whole wide galaxy, don't do this, okay? Her aunt rules the aurors and there are witnesses. You know I can't obliviate worth a damn and if we have to scramble Harry's brain there will be all sort of questions. Calm down. Think!"

"They wouldn't lie to family." said Yuki, voice too calm for her wild eyes and the way the temperature in the compartment was plummeting. "Never, and certainly not about this. She's pureblood, she knows that."

"She's thick isn't she?" Flare touched her check, made her look at him. "Ma snow-girl, much as I love you I don't want to go to Azkabam with you. Calm down, please. I can't feel my toes anymore."

Sanity returned to those frozen blue eyes, and the glass in the door cracked as Yuki dashed out.

"She's wrong!" insisted Susan. "She's wrong!"

Flare gave are a long, cool look.

"Susan Bones, you disappoint me."

He didn't know how she reacted. He was already chasing after his sister in every way that mattered.

Xxxxxxxx

"Hey Indy."

"You are not allowed to call me that Ronald."

"Oh… Cherry-chan is so mean…"

"Cherry-chan is considering dissecting you and moving your organs around to see what happens."

Ron blinked several times. That was, unexpectedly inventive, but really…

"I don't know what was freakier, the threat or you referring to yourself as Cheery-chan."

Indigo tipped his head slightly, a tiny crease appearing between his eyebrows as he considered this.

"Agreed. Let's pretend the entire thing never happened."

"Works for me."

"But you're still not allowed to call me Indy."

"Okay." Ron didn't, in all honesty, expect to be allowed, and didn't particularly want to either. Indy, a nickname of a nickname, sounded childish, safe. Indigo was neither, and when your favourite past time was annoying the blond it was a good idea to remember that. But, on to more interesting things. "You've got your ears pierced."

"My ears have been pierced for a while now, hadn't you noticed?"

"You've had them pierced more." He stated, dismissing the snark with practiced ease and eyeing the small, flat, mother-of-pearl studs in Indigos right ear. "That ear used to have one earring. Now it has three."

"He can count, there may still be hope!"

"Play nice. You now have five piercings, ain't that kinda over the top?"

"Seven."

"Seven?"

"Seven."

"Seven what?"

"Seven piercings, obviously."

Ron blinked several times as certain images leapt from the dark recesses of his newly hormonal imagination. Indigo glared at him, moving his hair to show the two small gold rings in the cartilage of his right ear.

"Get your mind out of the gutter."

"It's not in the gutter! It is firmly in my head where it's always been!"

"Get the gutter out of your head!"

"Er, how?"

"Do I look like I know anything about drains, Weasly?"

There was something about Indigo's 'how stupid are you?' tone that, combined with Indigo's stance and the fact that he couldn't look less plumber-ish if he tried, and probably couldn't pull off any sort of plumber impression even if he wasn't long haired, pretty and wearing blue silk, sent Ron into hysterics.

It could also have been the picture Ron's always active imagination had tossed out of Indigo in a boiler suit. However that train of thought inevitably lead to wrenches and piping and the vast potential for grevious bodily harm and was best left alone.

A few students poked their heads out of their compartments.

"Are you murdering him?" asked a 1st year, with an air of professional curiosity that was moderately disturbing.

"How would his laughing be a result of murderous inclinations?"

"Er, tickling charms. Hold him under one for a few hours and the helpless laughter will result in a lack air getting in that will cause him to suffocate."

"… Muggelborn?"

"Yup. How'd you know?"

"I know a grand total of four purebloods that could come up with a theory like that and you aren't one of them. Also, you aren't glaring at me, implying you don't know who I am or whom I'm related to."

"Nope, though I have heard a lot of people talking about nut jobs with purple eyes."

"Did they have newspapers?"

"Yup. Why?"

"I have an aunt. Nutjob is a mild term for her."

"Why's she in the newspapers?"

"Because she's a mass murderer with definite issues and an unnerving affinity for torture curses who just broke out of prison."

"Oh." The girl blinked twice, and then frowned. "McGonagall didn't mention that."

"Welcome to the wizzarding world kid. It's a remarkable place, full of wonder and magic and limited freedom of information and-" A rush of cold air swept down the corridor. "Yuki. Excuse me."

Indigo bolted. Ron, who had now descended into hiccups, didn't seem to notice.

The poor 1st year, who knew a little Japanese, was baffled.

"Snow? The wizzarding world is full of snow?"

Xxxxxx

The compartment seemed to be full of ice, the door was frozen shut and the windows were heavily clouded.

This didn't stop the other students from peering through them and gossiping about what they saw, or thought they saw.

Flare, stuck outside the compartment, worried about his sister and still angry about what Susan had said, decided that the time had come for extreme actions.

"OI! Bugger off!"

"Oh, shut up snake." muttered a Ravenclaw.

Flares eyes narrowed. He took a little cloth doll from one pocket, a hat pin from another, hissed a single word and pushed the needle through the dolls leg.

Killing with voodoo was impossible. Pain, however, was horribly easy, and the offending Ravenclaw hit the floor, clutching his leg and howling.

"I told you to bugger off." hissed Flare, glaring at the older boy. "Be a good little idiot and do as you're told."

He yanked the needle out and kept glaring.

The group eyed him, a few of them moving hands towards pockets. Then they froze a someone clicked their fingers and a new paten of shadows appeared on the floor and the walls.

Indigo, with his reputation and his wards and his insane aunt and his fan club. They left, and the blond turned the flame to straight heat, and went to work on the door.

Flare lightly touched his sorts-brother's cheek, and offered up all the events that had lead to this situation. A puff of steam came from the hinges, and the door opened.

Yuki was very still, and very pale, a shade close to that of snow instead of her normal light peach colour, and ice crystals were forming in the air around her.

Indigo moved swiftly, wrapping her in his arms, reducing the chill of her power with the heat of his. Flare joined the hug seconds later, as soon as he could without risking frostbite.

"That bloody bitch." whispered Yuki, finally starting to shake. "That bloody bitch."

"I don't think she knew what they had done." murmured Flare. "She went into denial."

"Probably. But that doesn't really excuse her, does it?" Indigo sighed. "We are not our parents."

None of them were instinctively cuddly people, but they stayed in the hug for a long time.

Xxxxxxxx

The atmosphere in a couple of compartments was decidedly frosty, but one of them was starting to thaw out and the other was heading towards a blazing row which would presumably warm things up somewhat.

But then the train stopped, the temperature dropped to below freezing throughout, and the unmistakeable feeling of dementors-nearby permeated every compartment, the sorrow, the loss, the pain, every bad memory you had dragged to the surface and played and replayed over and over again and the feeling that you would never be happy or warm again.

Harry remembered Kanan, old friends, swords in the stomach, Lily and James Potter and shook.

Ron remembered torture, a mother who wasn't, the brother he lost, the deaths of loved ones, and sobbed.

Indigo remembered poison, guilt, fear and the almost father who died, and clawed at his forearms.

Neville remembered death after death, loneliness, the silence in a mind not used to such and the cold, and he snapped.

Nobody had ever actually tried to hit a dementor before, for the simple reason that nobody had ever been willing to touch one, or get close enough to do so. This was probably why the horrible, but in this case unfortunate, creature reacted so slowly to Neville's spirited and very nearly successful attempt to claw its face off. For the given value of 'face' anyway.

It pushed him off and fled, the flesh hanging onto its head by nothing more than a scrap of skin, and Neville created another first in the history of dementors by going after it. They'd run two carriages, with quiet a lot of dementors having joined the first in running away, when one of the wraiths was dragged out of an open door by an unnatural wind, quickly followed by the rest, and Neville was hit in the chest by several litres of fast moving water, knocking him over.

Ron and Harry, both pale and trembling slightly, watched carefully as the earth child flipped himself back onto his feet, and didn't react when he snarled at them.

Neville's nails didn't seem too have grown, but a faintly glowing layer of magic or chi had created inch long golden claws, and his pupils were more silted then round.

"You need to calm down Neville." Harry's voice was gentle, but held an unmistakable note of command. "This is no place to lose control."

The Great Sage stared at him blankly, but his growl became a little quieter.

"C'mon monkey, chill out." Ron scowled. "I always seem to get busted up when you go apeshit. 's not good."

"Is that meant to be discouragement?" asked Indigo from a few meters behind Neville. "Because it sounds like a reason to me."

"Indigo that's not kind."

"Am I ever Harry?"

Neville span around, eyes wide and fixed on the blood on Indigos arms.

"Relax, I'm fine. Pissed off, but fine." Indigo took Neville's hands in his own, and smiled slightly as a faint shimmer of white gold hung between them. "I'm fine. But did you have to get that, whatever that stuff is, all over yourself?"

Neville pulled away, his eyes normal again, and inspected his blood stain hands and shirtsleeves, and then laughed lightly.

"Yup. Dementors are icky."

With this declaration Neville dropped, unconscious. Ron caught him, and took his pulse, and then blushed when Harry gave him an odd look.

"I just, needed to make sure, okay?"

"Understandable." Harry frowned at the blood under Indigos finger nails as he healed the long, sluggishly bleeding scratches on the blonds forearms. "These were self inflicted."

"… I _despise _dementors."

* * *

Next time: Bureaucrats, Exorcism and DADA


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

tag.0: Yup!

animiegirl1994: Dementors need to suffer.'nuff said.

Firehedgehog: Denile ain't just a river in egypt, but she'll get over it in a few chapters.

Holysinner5527: I like your use of really in relation to fictional being. What's the diffrent between frilly hugs and normal ones?

FEARMEfrancis: Harry is always the one not to piss off hun, he can sic Indigo on people.

mist shadow: Nah, that would give them too many allies at Hogwarts.

digisammiegirl: I apoligise for the slow updates! I WILL APOLIGISE TO THE WORLD! -ahem- sorry, recently read Fruits Baskets, Ritsu rocks. They'll sort themselves in a bit, and Sirius, well, I'm not sure how they'll handel Sirius. -shugs- We'll find out in a few chapters, ne?

FallenHope-Angel: Poor Goku indeed. Hope sheldon is better now.

* * *

Bureaucrats, Exorcises and DADA

An auror stood at either side of Hogwarts gates, and with them stood a pair wearing grey robes with deep hoods who seemed to have a layer of pale shadows streaming between them.

Dean stuck his head out of the carriage window and watched it with a mix of worry and fascination.

"Indigo, if I draw the runes can you work out what it does?"

"I can try."

The artist started drawing at a rate that was both impressive and rather odd to watch, while the other occupants of the carriage viewed him with a blend of interest and entertainment.

Well, most of the carriage. Neville was curled up against Indigo, still half asleep and unwilling to get up for anything short of a assassination attempt of a triple chocolate cheese cake.

They passed the gates, and Dean passed his sketch book across Yuki's lap to Indigo.

"Identification ward, linked to alarm system or possible an automated attack spell. I'm not sure which. It's complicated, and well made. I wouldn't want to have to break it in a hurry."

"You can break wards as well them?" murmured Harry with an odd little smile.

"Duh. Slytherin."

Hannah tipped her head, and then turned to Ron.

"Did that make any sense to you?"

"Not much. I think is a 'don't make a lock you can't pick' sort of them."

The Slytherins gave him faintly surprised looks.

"He understands how we think." muttered Flare.

"Most unexpected." added Yuki.

"We may have to kill him." sighed Millicent.

"No plottin' 'for witnesses."

Everyone fell into shocked silence at Neville's sleepy command, staring at him in blank astonishment.

"I'm almost completely certain that wasn't my fault." stated Indigo, more than a little surprised.

"Alas, my dear housemate is corrupted…"

Xxxxxxxx

There were aurors in the Great hall as well, tucked away in the corners, dressed in their battle robes and watching everyone carefully. Their robes were a deep, bloody red.

The Gryffindors puffed up and grinned, the Slytherins shifted ranks to keep their youngest members as far away from the law enforcers as possible. More interestingly, there were no new faces at the teachers table, and Snape looked extremely pissed off.

"Foreboding formations…"

It could have been a comment on the teachers, the aurors, the Slytherins, a cloud formation or something completely different that only she could see. Luna was, in her own disconnected sort of way, highly observant, but no-one was ever certain just what she was talking about.

It was both interesting and infuriating.

The 1st years filed in, the Hat sang and the sorting began.

"When do you think the Hat will give up on the song and just scream at us about unity instead?" asked Tracy softly.

"I'm waiting for it to break down and sob that no-one listens to it anymore." whispered Hazel. "Or just demand a bath. Possibly both."

"When was it last cleaned anyway?"

This slightly scary thought kept them occupied until Elizabeth Yeldon joined the Ravenclaws, and Dumbledore stood up and twinkled down at the hall in his best 'I'm your favourite old relation' way.

"Welcome, to another year at Hogwarts. To our new students, you should be aware that the forest is strictly out of bounds, and a few others would do well to remember that as well." He gave the Nutters a stern look, which made them grin. "Now, I'm sure you have all heard about the recent breakout-" murmurs filled the hall as everyone gave their neighbours their opinions, and many gave the Slytherins dirty looks. Dumbledore gestured for them to quiet down. "We have no reason to believe that Hogwarts will be a target! However, just to ensure your safety, the Ministry has provided additional security. The dementors will patrol the school boundaries at all times, and two auror teams have been assigned to patrol inside Hogwarts, and to accompany students on Hogwarts weekends. Also, as in the alarm caused by the escape we have been unable to find a suitable replacement for Professor Lockhart, myself and Auror Shacklebolt will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts!"

A tall, bulky auror with sharp eyes and skin like coffee steeped into view at Dumbledore's gesture and nodded to the students, who greeted him with a blend of raucous cheering, polite applause and a sardonic slow handclap, barely audible under the rest of the noise.

The Snakes house treated the faintly disapproving look Dumbledore gave them with the contempt it deserved. The frowning Ravenclaws, who disapproved of hazing a teacher who hadn't already proven them self to be incompetent, were simply ignored.

"And, with the announcements out of the way, I invite you all to tuck in!"

The food popped into existence, and everyone began loading their plates, some with more enthusiasm then others.

"Oi! Wait a minute will you!"

One of the ward casters had slipped into the hall without anyone noticing and was now standing just behind an alarmed looking Professor Spout and giving off the distinct feeling that he, or she, was frowning.

"Unspeakable…" Dumbledore trailed off, expecting to be given a name and looking a tad put out when none was forthcoming. "Why are you disturbing the feast?"

"Someone's beaten up a dementor." snapped the hooded figure. "And that's just not on. No-one even knew the things could get hurt, how the hell are we supposed to fix them? Who did it?"

Neville, who could be almost disturbingly honest at times, very nearly owned up.

_-Say a word and I am disowning you-_

Neville's mouth snapped shut. Shacklebolt stepped a little farther into the room.

"An attack on a dementor is an attack on Ministry property. Confessing ensures that the entire thing can be dealt with quickly and cleanly. Make it easier on yourself."

_-Indy…-_

_Not a word. They have nothing that links it to you. Don't draw attention to yourself; I don't want to tangle with the Unspeakables. They're not predictable.-_

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

"Fine. We'll do it the hard way."

Shacklebolt spoke very calmly, and the Unspeakable didn't say a word.

The fest was subdued.

Xxxxxxxxx

Indigo's daily quest for coffee hit an unexpected interruption the next morning.

"Guh..?"

The 5th year glared down at the blond Slytherin who had just walked into his chest, mouth in a nasty twist.

Indigo blinked up at him, not conscious enough to care why he had collided with the larger boy. The caffeine was in _that _direction, and everything else was irrelevant, including looming 5th years.

"Small hill…"

Indigo swayed past the youth, who was left with a stock of unspoken accusations, a bemused expression and the vague feeling that he had been insulted.

Xxxxxxxx

The 1st lesson of the 2nd year Slytherins and Huffelpuffs new term was History of Magic. The vast majority were already asleep on their desks, and the teacher hadn't even arrived yet. But two members of the class were far more awake then their slumped posture and half closed eyes would suggest.

Finally Bins floated in through the blackboard, following the same path he always took over the chair that hadn't been mover in decades, through the empty desk…

Where he stopped, breaking his routine. There was a faint cord of music, just on the edge of hearing, and Bins just vanished. Rather more dramatically, the desk caught fire a second later.

Alysandra looked at Eric. Eric looked at Alysandra. They smiled almost identical smiles of satisfaction, and the rest of the class finally woke up and freaked out.

Xxxxxxx

The Unspeakables were somewhere between irritation and amusement.

They had been about to go home, there was no real reason for them to stay and the heavy robes were itchy. And then someone, without anyone seeing or hearing them, had exorcised Hogwarts most boring professor, and they had been yank back to find out how.

They wanted to go home, but someone had exorcised Bins, and destroyed the ghosts ugly desk in the process and that was just bloody awesome.

"Hah!"

"Eh?"

"A lump of quartz!"

"Ah…"

Quartz held magic well, and released it cleanly on command. The pair inspected the stone, and cast a spell, and old one invented by a lunatic who had, though he hadn't known it, created the ultimate tool for any insurance company. It meant, very simply, 'show me what you were' and it worked brilliantly.

An image, colourless but sharp, formed above the stone. A flat disk, wooden by the looks of it, and heavily carved with small runes, spiralling inwards to the stone set in its centre. They recognised sections of the rune work, and it made the two Unspeakables grin at each other.

"A pre-made exorcism, primed to react to any ghost."

"That's beautiful. One of the kids must have planted it."

"Where did they get the thing? I've only seen five in my entire career."

"Don't ask me love, I don't know the design. I've never seen one with an automatic self destruct either."

"The maker must have been covering their tracks. It's a wicked prank though; I wish I'd thought of it while I was here. Would have made school so much more interesting."

"Preaching to the choir. The trails dead though, no-one here has the skill to make that, I doubt even the runes teacher could the design is to alien to her normal works. Unless there's enough magic left in that rock to trace the charger…"

"There isn't."

"Well, there's no point in us staying here, is there? Let's go home Jenny."

"I concur. But you're explaining this to Dumbles."

"…Damn."

Xxxxxxxx

He had tried, really tried to get the severity of the situation across, but the fact of the matter was that no-one had liked Bins, and everyone hated dementors.

Dumbledore curled a lip, the expression strange on his face, as the sounds of the castle wide party drifted though his office again. Well, almost castle wide, the dungeons held none of the frivolity.

It was a fine state of affairs wasn't it? Over five hundred children in this school and it was only the darklings, the shadow children, who understood the danger this mysterious exorcist could be. Was it really any wonder that the wizzarding world was so set in its' ways, so backwards compared to the muggel one? The only people who thought things through were the inbreed and frequently insane remnants of a bygone era. Utterly absurd.

But why did this have to happen now? There could be no worst time for it, there was no-one who could take over the lessons currently at Hogwarts, not after the fates of the last two teachers he had hired. The History of Magic course might have to be cancelled, and the Board of Governors would throw a fit about that.

This couldn't have caused more trouble if it had been planned to.

Now he thought about it, it probably had been.

Xxxxxxxx

Kingsley Shacklebolt was, in no particular order, a mediocre cook, a staunch supporter of the Light, a damn good auror, an skilled autocrat and an ex-Ravenclaw. He was not, never had been and had no desire to become a teacher.

And yet here he was, standing in front of a load of thirteen year olds who expected him to teach them something. Well, the Huffelpuffs expected him to teach them something. The Slytherins looked like they were considering making a run for it, or murdering him. It was hard to tell with that lot.

"Alright brats, this all of you?"

They gave him some odd looks, glanced around and then one from each house nodded.

"Good. I can't be bothered to do the register everyday so if someone is absent for any reason tell me, or don't. Whatever. I was told you've been taught about zombies, vampires, banshees, physical self defence and all the crap Lockhart wrote about?"

Actual attendance of Lockhart's lessons was very low." said a Slytherin girl, straight backed, cold eyed and eyed by Miss Bones with a certain nervous tension. He'd best keep the two apart as much as he could, gods knew what the Slytherin had done to earn that look but he didn't want to exasperate the situation.

"Well, good. I'll be continuing along the same lines as Professor Houton, Professor Dumbledore will be instructing you on dangerous magical creatures. Any questions?"

A Huffelpuff, the Longbottom boy, raised his hand.

"Ask."

"How do ya define dangerous magical creatures?"

"Anything that tries to eat me kid."

Another hand was raised, this one chocolate coloured and attached to a Slytherin boy. Kingsley hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.

"What about cannibals?"

Things like that, questions just like that, was why everyone found Slytherins so damn creepy. That was why the Snakes house scared the hell out of everyone.

"…Why do you ask?"

"Well, I have these cousins on Haiti who could sort of take offence- Oh don't look at me like that!" he glared at the horrified masses. "They aren't head hunters or anything! They only eat people they're related to, it's a sign of respect!"

The horrified masses, of which Kingsley was one, continued to look horrified. Longbottom turned to Lestrange nephew, his golden eyes –_is the boy a werewolf?- _huge.

"It's traditional, or cultural." The blond, who defiantly wasn't one of the horrified masses, shrugged. "I don't get it either, but they aren't hurting anyone so whatever."

"Okay, but I ain't eating anyone."

"Nobody expects you to."

This seemed to be enough for Longbottom, but most of the horrified masses still looked pretty freaked out.

A tall Slytherin girl sighed.

"Did you have to mention your cannibalistic relations Flare? This will be all over the school by this evening."

"I just don't want my relatives called creatures, however, disturbing their funeral rites may be."

"Er, funerals?"

"Well yes, clearly." The boy, Flare, gave the pale Huffelpuff girl a look of utmost scorn. "They aren't eating people just for kicks you know."

No, they hadn't known that. But they were extremely glad to find out.

"Right, if we could get on with the lesson now…"

Xxxxxxx

"Good morning students."

"Good morning Professor Dumbledore."

Ah, it was so nice to return to the classroom, he'd forgotten the rush. But here, the worshipful expressions of Gryffindors for a hero and Ravenclaws for a bastion of knowledge, Granger already looking a little bit frazzled. It was wonderful to see it again, to feel the power of a room blindly trusting his every word.

"This year I shall be instructing you on defence against dangerous magical creatures. We shall start small, grindelows and the like, and then work our way up to the more dangerous ones. Are ther any questions before we begin?"

Harry raised a hand.

Dumbledore wasn't entirely pleased by that, life would be so much simpler if the boy were of a less inquiring mind, or better still if he kept that depth of curiosity but were less intelligent. It had taken him weeks to convince Molly that he had no prior knowledge of Tom's horocrux or her possessed daughter and that Riddle had simply been his own term for the perpetrator of the attacks. All because Harry, blasted boy, had been stupid enough, or brilliant enough to ask that one question. Cynical enough to suspect.

The whole thing had put him far behind schedule, and he couldn't quite release his ire at the cause of the problem. But, he had a role to play, and nodded encouragingly at his difficult, infuriating, disobedient tool.

"Will methods to drive off dementors be covered sir?"

Well, at least one of his predictions for the year was accurate, he had known Harry would loath the dementors. They dredged up bad memories, and the boy should have plenty of those. Reliving them whenever he got too close to one of those horrible things should keep him sufficiently distracted for the year, just encase the escapees fell short of expectations.

"Not for quite some time I'm afraid. The spells to drive off dementors require a great deal of power and focus. Attempting them when you're too young can cause damage." Utter nonsense, but they didn't know that, and couldn't prove it otherwise. "And I remind you all that, however disturbing they may be, the dementors are here for your protection. There is no reason to fear them."

Another lie. Dementors were creatures of the very darkest magic, soul devouring things born of necromancy. Their loyalties were untested and uncertain and their minds, if they had them, were quite different from that of a human. They were untrustworthy, and beyond his control. Beyond anyone's control.

The children didn't need to know that either. Let them think the creatures were safe. Let the inevitable turning off allegiances, when the dementors rallied around the Dark Lord as all the dark creatures would, come as a shock and feel like a betrayal.

Harry sighed. The brat would undoubtedly spend all his free time over the next few days in the library. He wouldn't find anything, and hopefully wouldn't think to ask Lupin for a week or two.

The werewolf would tell him about the Patronus charm as soon as Harry asked. The damn moon mad furball, he always had been too smart to be really useful, fortunately his condition kept him side-lined, kept him weak enough to be no danger.

"Any other questions?"

No-one said anything, so he began. Water pests this week, names and characteristics, maybe two weeks, no need to rush them after all.

It would be quite irrational for any teacher to complain of an attentive student, but Ronald focus was a tad disquieting. Wasn't the boy normally rather relaxed?

* * *

Next time, if the plan holds: Letters and the Re-distribution of Fan-Ghouls


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

Holysinner5527: Not a Twilight fan i gather. I shall henceforth demand frilly hugs at every opitunity.

animegirl1994: Doing my best boss.

Firehedgehog: Yup.

Part-Time Irish: -head desks- I will apoligise for my spelling, I will apoligise to the world, and and aliens who may come across it.

Rilili: Good.

**Authors Whine: **After 22 days, I got 5 reviews -much love to everyone who did review-. Much as i hate to be whiny and troublesome, could i get a little feedback here?

-pouts- reposting because deleted my cool struct though effect on Susans letter. Thanks to xxcolourguardxx79 for pointing it out.

* * *

Letters and the Re-distribution of Fan-Ghouls

_Dear Sirius and Remus_

_I said I would write didn't I? _

_The first week back has been, interesting, to say the least. There have been more fights in the last 7 days then there were in the entire winter term last year. Between the breakout, the aurors and the dementors everyone is on a hair trigger, I only hope that they settle down soon. _

_Indigo is laughing at me. That is not a good sign. Even. _

_The Defence Against the Dark Arts classes are being covered by Professor Dumbledore and Auror Shacklebolt, both are competent but Professor Dumbledore teaches rather slowly, and I find it aggravating at times. History of Magic classes have been cancelled in the wake of Professor Bins unexpected exorcism, and we have no idea when they are to be resumed. Apparently nobody is willing to teach at Hogwarts at the moment. _

_It seems I must cut this letter short. Susan has just come in and as Yuki is already here someone has to run interference lest there be another fight. _

_The Squadrons leading ladies are currently not talking to each other; it's an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved. A reconciliation cannot come soon enough. _

_Harry Potter_

Xxxxxxxx

_Amelia, _

_A few days ago, on the train __Yuki told me that my parents killed her elder sister during the war. _

_She wasn't lying, and I don't think that she was lied to. The Darksider families are even stricter about honesty within the family then we are. _

_Amelia, did you know?_

_Susan_

Xxxxxxxxx

Harry was, with a remarkable speed, becoming paranoid. He couldn't seem to go anywhere within the school without the feeling that he was being watched, and it was making him twitchy.

A twitchy Harry was not a good thing, for anyone. A twitchy Harry was to be approached slowly and handled with extreme caution. A twitchy Harry had just been caught by the elbow by someone he didn't know or trust and spent rather more time than was comforting playing with poisonous plants and potions.

"Ouch! Harry do you have a pin in your sleeve or something? I think I'm bleeding."

"Oh dear, perhaps you should see Madame Pomfrey?"

"I'm not that squeamish, Harry." She giggled, waving the bleeding hand dismissively. "Anyway, the first Hogsmead weekend is pretty soon," This was a lie; it was actually two weeks away. "and I was wondering if you'd like to come with me. I could show you around."

She was a Huffelpuff, probably a 4th year, and pretty in a curvy, bouncy, bubblegum blond sort of way. Her eyes were wide and a very bright blue, and her skirt was rather short.

Clearly, this girl was accustomed to male interest.

"I don't think that would be quite proper miss, I don't even know your name."

"Well that's easily remedied. I'm Alice Pond…"

She trailed off, swaying slightly for a moment, her bright smile faltering.

"Are you absolutely certain that you aren't that squeamish, miss?"

She swayed again, more dramatically this time. A pair of girls, from different years and different houses and coming from different directions, stepped up and grabbed her by the elbows.

"We'll take her to the hospital wing. She probably has a cold or something."

"And we'd hate for you to catch it."

The pair frog marched Alice Pond off down the corridor, heading in the opposite direction from the hospital wing.

Harry just shrugged, and thanked the gods that his request for a trip into muggle London had been granted over the summer. Acupuncture needles dipped in potions weren't really the most practical of weapons, but he was damn glad to have had them with him.

Things could have gotten most unpleasant without them.

Xxxxxxxx

_Mira, _

_Little sister, how do you feel about going to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts? The situation here is on the fast train to shitville and I can't see it clearing up in time for your grand entrance. This place would give you a hard time anyway, being Papa's child by blood. _

_Just think about it, okay? _

_Indigo_

Xxxxxxx

The Slytherins had shifted into groups of threes and fours, silent little snake packs that walked purposefully and avoided the other houses.

The Gryffindors were moving in packs as well, though no-one was certain which house the behaviour had started in.

The Ravenclaws and Huffelpuffs, probably in a response to the growing tension between the other two houses, had also verged into pack mentality in an attempt to protect themselves from the coming storm.

It probably wasn't going to work.

Xxxxxxxxx

Susan was pacing, a letter crumpled in one hand, the other carding through her already tousled hair over and over again. The owlary was free of all human, or human shaped life, and the owls were polite enough to let her freak out without being stared at.

Nothing was explained, no questions were answered. Amelia had told the truth as she had belied it to be and had never heard of Helena Greengrass. But bad things happened in wars.

No confirmation. No denial.

"You'll look silly if you pull lumps of your hair out."

Susan jumped and span, wand pointed at the speaker within seconds.

Dean gave her a look he'd picked up from Millicent, and she lowered it.

"I'd prefer to be left alone right now Dean"

"I don't doubt it, but what you want isn't always what you need." His dark eyes were unreadable. "You need to talk, I will listen."

She didn't _have_ to answer him.

"My aunt, I wrote to her after, after we arrived. She just got back to me and it answers nothing! She knows nothing!"

It hurt, oh Merlin but it hurt. She wanted to believe that they'd been good, to love her parent's memory. She wanted her friend back. She'd rather like someone to tell her what to think.

Dean watched her, quiet, knowing, understanding and un-judgmental.

"Susan, your parents killed her."

She flinched. He continued, gentle but unrelenting.

"They killed her, even though she was innocent. And they didn't tell you aunt, because Amelia Bones is so fair that ever the Slytherins respect her for it and she would have condemned that death and those responsible. She would have brought them to justice, regardless of family ties, regardless of how much it hurt her. But people do the most terrible things in war. Sooner or later all the blood and all the death gets to you, and you hate the other side so much and you want to hurt them, even when both sides are so drenched in red that their colours aren't visible anymore. Lord Greengrass was, maybe still is, a Death Eater, and they wanted to hurt him. What your parents did was unforgivable, because she was an innocent and they killed her in a horrible way. But they probably didn't see it that way."

Susan stared blankly out a window. Dean leaned against the door frame and watched her, watched the colours only he could see.

"Yuki expects an apology for what you said about the Death Eater children. She doesn't blame you for the sins of your parents. She blames you for being stupid and having double standards."

"I don-"

"Yuki and Millicent's fathers were Death Eaters, so were Tracy's father and uncle. Indigo's father was Voldemorts right hand man and Bellatrix Lestrange is his aunt. You don't hate them for what their relations have done."

She hadn't considered that. Any of that.

"Think about it Susan."

He left.

Susan headed back towards Huffelpuff house half an hour later, her mind buzzing.

Two girls had cornered a pair of Slytherin first years. They were older then she was, Ravenclaws, and suddenly she was angry.

Susan stormed up behind them and yanked them backwards by their collars, throwing them off balance.

"If you mess with any first year again then so help me there will be a _reckoning_. Understood?"

At some point over the last few days the label of 'The Squadron' had mutated into 'The Hit Squad' and she was Amelia Bones's niece. They might be older, and there might be two of them, but she had a reputation, both her own and the groups, to work on and she wasn't in the mood to play nice.

They nodded franticly and fled as soon as she released them.

The little snakes eyed her warily.

What was it like, to be so suspicious of everyone?

"Get back to your housemates. I thought you snaklings were moving in packs nowadays."

She stalked off.

She could feel them staring at her.

Xxxxxxxxx

"It's just not right!"

"Why are you-"

"-so angry?"

"Inconsistency!"

The Twins shared a baffled look as their boyfriend continued to rage.

"Just calm down Jackie." murmured Indigo, not looking up from his book. "I'm fairly pleased with the situation."

"It's not right!"

"But it is a considerable relief."

"WOULD YOU PLEASE TELL-"

"US WHAT YOU'RE ON ABOUT?"

Everyone within the clubhouse stared at the twins.

"You shout like that as well?"

They gave Hermione identical 'why are you asking us stupid questions' looks and then returned their attention to Jackie.

"Why are you-"

"so angry?"

Jackie blinked at them. Indigo sighed and turned a page.

"My fangirls are no longer my fangirls, but they are still fangirls. It seems to offend him for some reason."

"They just spilt as soon as bad shit happened! You didn't even do anything!" Jackie hesitated from a moment, perhaps considering who he was talking to. "This time."

"I like the amendment." commented Tracy dryly. "Would you care to expand upon it?"

"Well, he hasn't done anything involving torture, humiliation or destruction of the innocent."

"What about Bins? And Lockhart?"

"Bins was already dead, and Lockhart wasn't innocent." Jackie shuddered. "I spent all of Valentine's day clashing with the walls…"

"So Jackie noticed as well, and he's gay." Millicent gave Flare a wicked smile. "Get out of the closet, my fashion conscious friend."

"I am not in the closet!"

"So you're a straight man capable of colour coordination?"

"Harry and Indigo manage."

"What do I manage?" asked Harry, walking in and closing the door firmly behind him. He looked rather frazzled.

"Colour coordination." answered Indigo, putting down his book and pouring his friend a cup of tea. "You look terrible, what happened?"

"Stalkers." muttered the Ravenclaw, clutching the mug of tea as though it would ward of the creepy people. If thrown with sufficient force it probably would. "I thought it was just a few girls hitting their hormones but they are defiantly following me around. Since when did we have a tea pot and kettle in here?"

"The Nutters asked the house elves. They were most accommodating

"That's nice… Would you mind terribly if I fell asleep on you?"

"Why would you want to?"

"They broke into my dorm last night. If any of them actually manage to get in here you'll set them on fire."

"…You finish your tea first."

Millicent turned to Flare, her expression triumphant. He gave up.

"Can't I be bi-sexual instead?"

Generous in victory, she nodded grandly.

Harry, who having gulped down his cup of tea was now comfortably settled with his head in Indigo's lap, made a quizzical noise.

"They think we're gay."

"Mmrfph?"

"Colour coordination and our respective fanclubs."

"Those help, but mostly it's the way you two act like an old married couple." quipped Ron, smirking at them.

"Ronald, should I decide to do something horrible to you, nobody will be able to prove it was me."

"Reading you loud and clear captain."

Jackie stared blankly around at everyone.

"I actually cannot remember why I was angry."

"You were being silly." Fred patted his hand comfortingly. "Forget about it. Have an éclair."

"Whoa, wait, no éclair, not in public." George pushed the plate of cakes away. "No offence love, but you can make cream cakes seem indecent."

Ron looked around with an interested expression. Hermione sighed.

"Are all the men I know gay?"

"Noooo…" Tracy tapped her lip thoughtfully with the end of her quill. "I'm pretty sure that Dean has a crush on Hannah, the Munchkins are a bit too young to be showing their inclinations, and we don't know about Neville."

"So that is, at best, four men out of twelve. Is this why the population of the wizzarding world is so low? Mass homosexuality?"

"No. There is a potion that can allow a lesbian couple to conceive, and another that makes it possible for a man to carry a child to term. The population can be blamed on the wars and an overabundance of arranged marriages among the purebloods."

"… I am both relieved and disturbed."

Xxxxxxxx

_Indigo,_

_I'll do you a deal, brother of mine. I'll go to Beauxbatons if you'll transfer and go there with me. Alright?_

_Your French is just as good as mine after all, and it's warmer there. You'd like it. _

_Miranda_

Xxxxxxx

Isabella Rockwood was not having a good year. She blamed her parents for this.

This is not an uncommon state of affairs among teenagers, but unlike the frequent occurrences, Isabella's placement of blame was justified.

That sort of thing is not normal. At all.

Susan Bones walked over to her, in the middle of the library, and made a bow.

"I apologise for speaking poorly of you. My comments were entirely unjustified."

Susan walked off, and Isabella was left in the perplexing situation of having been publicly apologised to for an offence she hadn't known had been committed.

She dealt with the bizarre matter with admirable composure.

* * *

Next time:Bogart and Reconciliation

Reviews probably won't spead up updates, but they will make me happy.


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

xxcolourguardxx79: Cheers, i fixed everything i could find.

HevenSentHellBroken: :)

Firehedgehog: :)

digisammiegirl: Gojyo always struck me as an opitunist, and he spent enough time flirting with Sanzo for me to make Ron as bi. Indy isn't going to transfer.

Holysinner5527: I'm strongly anti-Twilight myself, anything involving sparkly vampires needs to die. Many frilly hugs.

Misting Rain: :)

lordamnesia: Thank you!

alchino: :) Are you using a manga names a your user name? Swear i#ve heard alchino before somewhere...

InuYasha's Fox: Once i've finished year 3. Be paitient.

* * *

Boggart and Reconciliation

"It's such a lovely morning!"

Severus was a spy, a slytherin, and had the dubious advantage of having known Albus Dumbledore for many years, and thus he knew instinctively that this was a sign of Bad Things to come.

Unfortunately he had a caffeine addiction to rival even the most neurotic and obsessive of the 7th year Ravenclaws and he hadn't had any coffee yet. He did not react in a logical fashion, reasonable, perhaps, but not logical.

The other teachers stared at the heavily chained cupboard. It had already been pretty scary, as there was a boggart that had somehow gotten into the castle trapped in it. The new addition of a paranoid potions master balanced on the top certainly wasn't helping matters.

"Severus? My dear boy, are you alright?"

The dark eyed man hissed at Dumbledore. McGonagall handed a mug of coffee up to her former student and proceeded to ignore the situation entirely.

Kingsley, who was never at his best first thing in the morning, watched in utter bafflement. There probably were stranger sights then Severus Snape drinking coffee in a strangely feline manner whilst crouched on top of a cupboard, but he couldn't imagine them right now.

McGonagall probably had the right idea about things.

Xxxxxxxx

Bellatrix Lestrange was dancing, her almost skeletal arms stretched up towards the sun, her deep sunken eyes closed in an expression of utter serenity.

Josephine Rockwood, the only other woman in the party of escapees, snorted.

"Lestrange, can't you do something about your sister in law?"

Rabastan gave her a blank eyed stare, his set response to everyone except Bellatrix these days. The loss of his beloved twin had fractured his mind, and then the dementors had shattered it entirely. He was possibly as insane as Bellatrix now, though rather less obvious about his madness.

Josephine snorted again, dismissing the two lunatics, and turned to her husband.

"My sister has raised our children. I would know of them."

"If we were discovered she would be endangered, and our children with her." Luke spook with a deep melancholy, and hugged his wife when she hissed. Wait a while, my love. Once our Lord has risen once more we shall see them again, with honourable station, and not as fugitives who would be a burden to them."

"Pah." Dag Svenson waved a hand. "You should have paid your way free, everyone else with children did."

Jacob Carrow coughed in a meaningful way. Dag grinned at him.

"You don't count."

The Rockwoods, Jacob, and even the Lestranges stared at him. The 7 foot Norseman, strangely strong and healthy after his imprisonment, gazed back unperturbed.

A doe's corpse hit the earth, the gash in its throat still seeping blood. William Trelor grinned at his fellow escapees, twirling a stick.

"Who says wand crafting is hard? Right kind of wood, strand of hair, easy."

Rabastan, the only other person who hadn't claimed one of the dead guard's wands, didn't even seem to notice. Josephine, however, eyed the doe thoughtfully.

"How long has it been, since we tasted meat? Luke, Svenson, reach firewood. I'll make a split for it. Get up, Carrow; it's time to see if you can still cook."

They obeyed.

There were few women in the ranks of the Death Eaters, but they were treated with a deference born of awed terror as each and every one of them had reached high rank through mastery in the field of battle, torture or simple mass destruction.

Death Eaters _respect_ that sort of thing.

Xxxxxxxxx

Dumbledore was late and the classroom was locked. As Susan was looking at Yuki with an edge of desperate, uncertain apology, and this was hardly the place for such a scene, this was making Indigo cranky.

Even more cranky then normal morning crankiness.

"Good morning students!"

No-one that happy could possibly not be taking mind altering substances. There were probably happy drugs in the lemon drops.

"We're having a practical lesson today. A boggart has been captured in the staffroom closet, this way! Does anyone know what a boggart is?"

No-one raised a hand or offered an answer.

"No? Well, boggarts are shape shifters with the ability to discover, and take the form of, what you fear most. They then feed on that fear. It's also a defence mechanism. But, while rather disturbing, boggarts are not violent, there are no known cases of one attacking anyone. Now, everyone try to work out what the boggart will become for you. If there's anything to horrible, just ask to be excused."

Peeves zapped away from the door as soon as he saw Dumbledore, and they filed into the staffroom.

The closet rattled threateningly, and Dumbledore gave them all a comforting smile.

"Boggarts fear laughter. The spell 'Riddikulus' and an image of something amusing, a way of turning something frightening into something funny, will drive them off."

There was a long, thoughtful silence. Then Hannah slowly raised a hand.

"What will happen, if you don't know what you're scared of?"

"Well, it will be more difficult to ward against it, but don't worry. A boggart faced with several people will be distracted and confused."

A few students relaxed. Dumbledore beamed.

"Are there any volunteers to go first?"

Susan stepped forwards, Dumbledore opened the cupboard, a Death Eater charged out-

"Riddikulus!"

-and was mauled by a swarm of chipmunks.

"Excellent! Next!"

Millicent stepped up, and, disregarding the spell, gave a clown a hard kick to a sensitive area.

The line moved onwards. A Huffelpuff boy revealed himself to be scared of snakes, Yuki froze a huge swarm of flies, Flare blew up a giant jack-in-the-box and Hannah found out that she was scared of rats. Then it was Neville's turn.

Indigo's corpse fell out of the cupboard.

_-I am here.-_

"Riddikulus."

Harry and Ron's mangled bodies hit the floor.

_-They can look after themselves.-_

"Riddikulus."

A pile of severed heads, with Madame Longbottoms on top.

_-Half of them are here. Our friends are strong.-_

"Riddikulus."

Bellatrix Lestrange skipped out, glanced around and giggled. Half of the class screamed, and a warm hand settled on Neville's shoulder.

"You've done enough."

The shaken Huffelpuff retreated to Hannah's comforting presence, and Indigo faced the illusion of his aunt.

"You are not really. You cannot hurt me. Also, she is unlikely to hurt me."

Bellatrix frowned and became a huge angry bear.

"No, bears like me. Most animals do."

A pile of battered bodies.

"They aren't real."

Ukkouto Sanzo, sutra reaching out for the students.

"You cannot touch me. You cannot touch them." Indigo tipped his head, a dark glitter in his eyes. "But, and this is important dear, I can touch you."

The cupboard door slammed shut.

Indigo's smile was rather scary.

"Um…" the snake phobic Huffelpuff shifted uncomfortably. "What side are you on, and can I join?"

"I am a side, and maybe if you're very, very good."

Xxxxxxxx

Susan stared at Yuki. The Slytherin Ice Princess gazed back with glacial calm.

Their friends shared a look, then turned and left the scene, Neville being dragged by Millicent as he hadn't quite grasped the situation.

Susan took a deep breath, tried to organise her thoughts, and began.

"I am sorry for what I said, about my parents and…"

She trailed off as Yuki raised a finger, an unspoken request for silence. Her eyes were unreadable.

"You apologised to Isabella and Charles Rockwood, in public, before witnesses."

Susan nodded, and Yuki lowered the finger.

"Nobody likes to admit when they are wrong, and you are proud enough to find it particularly hard. But you apologised, even when they didn't know why." Millicent ruled the deadpan stare, but Yuki was undisputed champion of the enigmatic smile. "I accept your apology, Susan Bones, on the grounds that you didn't have a clue what your parents had done, what they were like, and that you are sometimes stupid. But, and I am not asking for this Susan I require it of you, no more believing things because you want to believe them, and no more judging people on different standards because of how you feel about them. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes. Yes, totally."

"Good." Yuki turned to go, beckoning Susan to follow her with one finger. "Now, what do you think about that essay McGonagall set? Is she being needlessly complicated or am I just missing something?"

Susan was caught totally off guard.

It couldn't be that simple, surely?

Xxxxxxxx

"Boggarts. Interesting." Harry scowled into space. "They can change into anything?"

"No, they're illusionists, not actual shape shifters. Though I have to say, seeing my own corpse was, disorientating." Indigo shrugged as everyone gave him odd looks. "It was just weird, okay? Like seeing the back of your own head."

Susan shook her head in disbelief.

"Only you, Indigo, would class that as 'disorientating'. But, really Yuki, flies?"

"They crawl up your nose and then buzz around in your nasal cavity."

Ron and Tracy made almost identical noises of distress. Tracy was immediately offered support by a sympathetic Hermione. Ron was just poked by Hazel, who had never seen him creeped out before.

"I have potions in 5 minutes." muttered Harry, looking slightly mournful.

"6th year work getting too much for you?" Ron smirked.

"You have Care of Magical Creatures, where something may eat you."

"Reading you loud and clear boss."

"I feel strangely obsolete." mussed Indigo as everyone dashed off to their respective lessons. "What is troubling you Ari?"

"You have Arithmancy with Hermione the lesson after next, is this correct?"

"It is."

"I have DADA with her at the exact same time. "

"Yes, her time table is rather interesting isn't it. "

Xxxxxxxxxx

"Good afternoon students!"

"Good afternoon Professor Dumbledore."

He beamed at them. Apparently a morning of watching young people face their worst fears had put him in a good mood. That probably said something about him as a person.

"This way, this way. We're having a practical. What can you tell me about boggarts?"

Hermione did not raise her hand. Harry did, and was not called on.

"Yes Miss Davis?"

"They are ever shape shifters or extremely good illusionists. They have the ability to read minds and feed on fear. "

"Excellent, 5 points to Ravenclaw. Everyone please consider carefully what the boggart is likely to turn into for you. It became Bellatrix Lestrange and I would rather not have a repeat of the incident."

A few people gave Harry worried looks. He blinked at them.

"I am not going to conjure Voldemort."

"Don't say the name."

"He's not going to drop from the ceiling and eat us just because I said his name. He's probably not even called Voldemort anyway. Who would call a child Voldemort?"

"…Luna might." said Dean, and then glared when everyone gave him shocked looks. "She might, okay? If there is anyone in this world who would call their child Voldemort it is Luna!"

Dumbledore's expression was, interesting. To say the least.

The cupboard rattled at them threateningly.

"Now, the spell to ward off a boggart is 'Riddikulus', used in conjunction with a humorous image. Has everyone got that?"

Slowly, they nodded.

"Wonderful! Ah, Miss Davis, would you care to start us off?"

Tracy did not look happy to be singled out.

A big purple and green dinosaur danced out of the cupboard wearing the bright, fixed smile of a true psychopath.

"Riddikulus!"

It was violently dismembered by a chainsaw wielding redhead in a frock coat.

"Oh my, how gory. Next!"

A Patil twin proved herself to be scared of wasps, Hazel was furious to be presented with a corpse he didn't recognise, Hermione forwent magic in favour of punching the image of Madame Price that declared her barred from the library, Dean went all most cationic when all colour leached from the room and had to be rescued by Seamus Finnegan, who was apparently scared of dogs.

Ron stepped forward.

The dog stared at him for a long moment, and then rippled like a mirage to become a new figure.

It was a little taller than Ron, rather bony and not wearing a top. Beyond that description was impossible, because it kept changing. One moment there would be glittering scales, the next fur or cracked skin, tentacles to raged wings to multiple arms, mismatched eyes to flat black to no eyes at all.

It appeared to be highly disgruntled, and glared at Ron constantly; even when it didn't have eyes it was still, somehow, glaring.

"Wwwwwwhat, isssss wrong wwwwwith you?"

"Um, sorry?"

"You havvvve nooo fear centrezzzzz! Alllll things fear! Yooou fear! Wwwwwhy izzz there no focccccussss?"

"Well, I think actively fearing something takes quite a bit of forethought and concentration, and I'm not real good at those." Ron scratched the back of his head, blushing slightly. "Sorry about that."

"Aiiiiiiirhead."

"I am not! Neville's the airhead!"

"Wwwwwhich isss he?"

"He's about this high, brown hair-"

A limb that started out as a talon and turned into a tentacle during the gesture was waved dismissively.

"Wwwwwe do not ssssssee asss you do. Have the one who fears the greyness to describe him. He sssseesss."

Dean was stared at by everyone who could stop staring at the boggart.

"Neville is, yellow, and orange, nice orange. And he glows, though not much. He's linked to the electric blue-grey burning one by purple and gold. The one who thinks in mazes."

The Hit Squad collectively wondered how Indigo would feel about being called 'the electric blue-grey burning one' and the boggart took their leaders shape for a moment before coming out in green scales.

"That one has no air, the heat has stolen it. Go awwway, aiiirhead. You trouble uzzzz. "

Ron backed up, looking rather embarrassed, and Harry moved into the vacated space.

Dumbledore, who had watched the conversation in total fascination, suddenly looked a lot less awed and a lot more focused.

The boggart shimmered into a large pile of corpses, all of them easily recognisably, and when Harry opened his mouth to be logical at it, turned into a very clearly dead-but-walking girl that Harry didn't recognise.

"No! Enough! No more! I hate doing dementors! Dementors are nasty! I'm on strike!"

The way the cupboard door slammed shut was distinctly similar to the way sulking teenagers slammed doors.

"Well, that was interesting. And the boggart is clearly much more intelligent than we had previously assumed." Hazel frowned thoughtfully. "Given this discovery, should it not be released immediately? It is not morally correct to force an intelligent being to participate in a demonstration against its will."

Dumbledore's expression was something the Harry would remember, and find amusement in, for quite some time.

* * *

Next time: Fanghouls and the Planning of Weddings


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

**Authors Note: **Sorry it took so long to get this one out, I had writters block and then a saiyuki AU plot bunny grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go, i only finished the chapter yesterday and typed like mad to get it ready to post. I wanted to put it out today, as its my sister birthday, and as i can't find her to give her a preasent, I wanted to give my lovely readers an update instead. Enjoy.

Chaos Babe: He wil, eventully.

HeavenSentHellBroken: -smiles- You say the sweetest things

FallenHope-Angel: Goku is a sweetie, 'nuth said, and bogarts are fun. :) Harrys stalkers are going to regret it.

Twisted Luck: A plot line? REally :0 I hope that you are busy with good things.

Midnight Marauder: Thank you, and yes, that would be Grell. Have a cookie for being the only one to pick up on that.

BlueSkyes101: Soz, i think i spelt it right in this chapter.

FEARMEfrancis: Thank you

Firehedgehog: -grins-

Misting Rain: Thank you

HolySinner5527: I spelt it wrong? -headdesks- I knew i should have cheacked it. Barny give me the wiggins.

mist shadow: Yup! Cannot help but dig his utter arogance.

Kuroi In a Black Hole: Thank yous, and i am sorry about my spelling.

digisammiegirl: Yup, my boys are cool. There will be more of the escapees, and Sirius will turn up in a few chapters, with Remus cause i really like that man. This is third year, but Kougaiji gave the years system a kicking when he was teaching DADA and Harry took his potions OWL just before Sirius's trial, it's all in the last story.

lordamnesia: That was kinda fun :). Will do sah!

Thank you to all my lovely reviewers for not telling me off for whining, you make me ever so happy.

* * *

Fanghouls, Engagements and Time turners

Ginny Weasly had not become a squib. In fact, her time spent body sharing with the teenaged Dark Lord had caused hr magical core to expand significantly.

It didn't matter. Harry didn't know about her new power and the healers had forbidden her from using too much magic, some nonsense about the fragility of her channels and the possibility of instabilities in her magical core. Complete rubbish of course, but they had put a bunch of seal thingys on her wrists and now she couldn't cast big spells, and trying to hurt.

Bastards. Stupid, blind little bastards. Mum shouldn't have let them do it, wouldn't have normally. They'd lied to her, manipulated her into allowing the procedure.

If only Harry would help her, together they could break the seal, together they could do anything. But that Malfoy bitch hadn't lost his charm yet, and what time her beloved spent in Gryffindor tower was wasted on the artist boy or the mudblood bookworm. The little bastards only wanted her Harry for his fame and wealth.

Someday the scales would fall from her Harry's eyes, he'd see those so called friends for what they truly were, would see the treacherous natures of her brothers. And then he would come to her, his soul mate.

All she needed to do was, speed things a long a little.

The Slytherins would have to go, just to start off with. They were entirely to convincing, to manipulative, to good at getting their own way, and the girl, the one built like a brick wall, was getting far, far too close to Ronald. Her brothers were _hers_, and no-one was aloud to distract them from their duty to her.

Her brothers were shallow, a few ugly scars would kept Ron away from the Bulstrode chit.

Xxxxxxxxxx

"Alright, break it up, there are children in the room!"

Oliver, Penelope and Percy did not move from their little cuddle fest on the sofa.

"And Colin still has his camera." added Ron loudly.

That worked.

Indigo, who had been observing the snogging seventh years with the detached air of someone watching a nature documentary, nodded to the newcomers and returned to his charms homework.

"Why didn't you stop them?" asked Susan, curious.

"It's hard to get angry when people are giving off happy vibes that strongly."

"Gotta remember that." muttered Neville.

"So, why are you three so happy?" asked Hannah, settling near the flustered seventh years and giving them a fond smile. "I must be something quite special to make you so, ah, demonstrative."

"Yeah, that's our thing." quipped Jackie.

"And we don't mind being photographed." added George.

"In fact, we're willing to pose." agreed Fred, his smile truly manic.

Colin looked entirely too interested for comfort. Perhaps more alarmingly, Dean looked faintly intrigued as well.

"Yes, you three are utterly shameless." declared Percy in the primmest voice imaginable. "It's really utterly indecent."

His hair was sticking up in every direction, his glasses were at a strange angle, his tie had almost been pulled off and his shirt had ridden up just enough for tribal looking tattoo of a bird of prey to be visible on his right hipbone. His expression was one of haughty distain.

Cue mass sniggering.

Penelope laughed softly, practically glowing with happiness, and Oliver flicked Percy's ear.

"Snooty buggar."

Percy stuck out his tongue. Yuki coughed sharply, reminding them of the other people in the room before then could start kissing again.

"Tell us the news now, make out later and in privet."

The trio shared a look full of hidden meanings and joy.

"We're engaged."

"SQUEEEE!" –From Hannah, Flare and Hazel-

"Yay! Wait, how does that work?" –Hermione-

"Gracious." –Harry-

"Mum is going to flip out."-Ron-

"You sound pretty happy about that Ron." –Millicent-

"Well that's just lovely. When's the wedding to be?" –Tracy-

"Congratulations." –Indigo-

The newly engaged trio blushed, beamed, and did their best to answer the many questions tossed at them. Starting with the firm and incontestable statement that the Nutters could not be bridesmaids, and then trying to explain the complexities of the wizzarding system of multi-way marriages to the muggelborns in the room, before showing off their simple, matching engagement rings to Hannah.

Yuki leaned over towards Dean.

"White ropes?"

"…Yeah. They have them."

She leaned back, her smile more than a little bit smug.

"Flare owes me cookies."

The psychic laughed.

"What are we going to give them as wedding presents?" asked Harry of the world in general. "What can we possibly give them that their families won't give them first?"

He wore a delighted smile the entire time.

Xxxxxxxxx

The school had noticed the unusual levels of happy vibes the Hit Squad was giving off. They were all smiling a lot and laughing more than normal.

It was making a lot of people paranoid. It was making a lot of other people get a lot of rather silly ideas.

Harry was accosted by no less than 9 members of his newly formed fanclub, which he was obliged to see off with a variety of poisons. The Nutters were given four detentions, each by paranoid teachers who believed, not entirely unfairly, that they were up to something. Ginny Weasly was seen following Harry around, which wasn't that odd, but had also taken to stalking Millicent whenever she couldn't find the object of her obsession. Pansy Parkinson tried to glomp Indigo, fell down the stairs when he dodged and completely failed to break her neck or any other important bones.

"Woe to the republic."

More cheerfully Hazel made a new friend in the form of a fourth year Huffelpuff from America named Julian Silk, or Karonhisake if you cared to acknowledge the name bestowed upon him by Native American tribal naming ceremony. He did not quite join the Hit Squad, but quickly became a favourite of the Munchkin Army and was rarely seen without Hazel whenever they didn't have lessons.

Dean had taken one look at them together and wandered off, muttering darkly about luminous spray string and the difficulties of trying to paint someone in traditional tribal costume, particularly when you didn't know what the traditional costume was.

Julian was written into the wards on the HQ two days later, and the Hit Squad saw more of Hazel afterwards.

Xxxxxxxx

"Hermione, a word?"

She jerked violently up from the book she was bent over, and blinked at Harry in a dazed manner.

"What? Harry, I'm busy, can it wait?"

"No, I'm afraid it can't." he settled opposite her and gave her a stern look. "Who gave you the time travel item Hermione?"

"Wha- I don't know what you're talk-"

"Please don't lie to me Hermione."

She flinched. Sharpness from Harry was all the worse for its unexpectedness. His wielded disappointment like a knife.

"You have been attending two lessons at once, several times a week, since the beginning of term. I would assume that you have also been using the item in order to complete homework on time." Hermione shifted uncomfortably under Harry's stare. He held out a hand, palm upwards. "Hand it over."

"I-I can't Harry, I promised. Professor McGonagall said-"

"_Hermione_."

She bit her lip, drew a long necklace with a tiny hour glass on the end out from under her shirt, and held it out for Harry to see.

"A time turner!" Tracy darted out from behind a bookshelf and stared between her best friend and the necklace. "Those things are more heavily restricted then unicorn blood, and with good reason! Do you have any idea what extended use does to you?"

Judging by the look on Hermione's face, she didn't.

Harry frowned at the bookshelves.

"Indigo, what are you doing?"

The blond wandered out after Tracy, and shrugged.

"I felt that Tracy would get better results then we could, together or seperatly."

"So you're manipulating your friends."

"Yes, but in a very open and honest manner." replied Indigo with his most winning smile, the effect somewhat ruined by the fascinated way he was watching Tracy berate Hermione, who handed over the time turner with a stunned expression. "But you disapprove anyway, and that , Ari, is why your house colours don't go with your eyes."

"You have the most peculiar priorities. Why are time turners so dangerous anyway? You never really explained properly."

"The mind is not meant to be in two places at once, and that's what time turners do really, put you in two places simultaneously." It was Tracy who answered, speaking mostly to Hermione. "Magic forms a link between the two yous, because you only have one magical core and both versions have to be able to access it. Your magical core is strongly linked with your mind you know, and use one of those things for too long and your core gets all pulled out of shape, stretched, like taffy or something. Use one of those for too long and it becomes permanent, so your mind and magic is all twisted! It leaves you totally vulnerable to mental attack! Those things are completely illegal Hermione, they can drive you mad! McGonagall will get fired for even having one, giving it to you could mean Azkaban! You have to stop using it now!"

Hermione looked horrified, possibly because he time turner could do terribly things to her mind, and possibly because of the implications of McGonagall acting illegally. Try as they might, no-one had been able to break her habit of idolising the good teachers.

"That's awful, but, my lessons…"

"Divination is a load of rubbish, and you know considerably more about muggels then the Muggel Studies teacher does." stated Harry firmly. "Drop them and have McGonagall rearrange your timetable to fit into the blank sessions."

"We can't make her re-arrange a time table!"

"Why not?" snapped Tracy, one fist clenched around the time turner as though she were trying to crush it.

"It happened last year." said Indigo mildly. "There is no real reason why it shouldn't this year as well."

"But-"

"Hermione." purred Tracy, her voice hitting the 'dark, dangerous and slightly psychotic' note that was normally associated with the Defenders of Anarchy. "She has endangered you. She has broken the law. I will not permit your mind to be damaged. She will comply or she will _suffer_. And that is all there is to it."

The trio stated at the normally calm Ravenclaw in half fearful astonishment. This was not normal Tracy behaviour, and all the more shocking for it.

She held out the time turner to Indigo, who took it with a blank expression.

"Ward it up somewhere; I want it safe in case we need blackmail."

"Yes ma'm."

"Excellent. Come Hermione, there is much to be arranged."

Tracy, imperious in her fury, swept out, Hermione drawn in her wake.

"Goodness." murmured Harry weakly. "How unexpected."

"She has hidden depths." agreed Indigo dazedly.

"Are you in shock?"

"A little, yes. But I have a time turner to play with so it's all good."

"It will bend your mind into odd shapes."

"I'm an empath; my mind is adapted to be bent into odd shapes."

"No time travel Indigo, and not blowing up the dangerous magical object with silly experiments."

"You don't let me have any mad scientist moments."

Harry gave him a Look.

Indigo hmph'ed, tucked the time turner in a pocket, and sauntered off to sulk.

* * *

Next time:Hogsmead and Dementor Attacks


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

HevenSentHellBroken: I am unspeakably proud of myself

Holysinner5527: Yup, thats Gat

realdarkangel: Why thank you

Firehedgehog: Cheers.

Warning: one f-bomd in this chapter

* * *

Dementor Attack

"I am confused."

As Harry was focused on maintaining the liquid umbrella that kept the rain off them, the Gryffindors and Huffelpuffs were focused on the Quidditch game, the Slytherins were trying to pretend that they weren't there and Tracy was glued to Hermione, Hazel's statement passed without comment. Julian smiled at him but said nothing, suggesting that he hadn't actually listened.

He tugged on a likely looking sleeve and tried again.

"Flare, I'm confused. Why are we here?"

Flare tipped his head and considered this, nose wrinkled in a way that made him look like a confused puppy.

"I think it's because our friends dragged us alone to see the match, or possibly just to make us suffer, and now we can't leave without getting soaked."

Hazel considered this, looking with clear dislike at the heavy rain.

"We could take Harry with us."

Indigo snorted.

"Yeah, good luck with that. He's got a new trick and he's not going anywhere until he's got it absolutely perfect."

They considered the umbrella that covered them like some strange mushroom, shielding them from the worst of the weather, and the ripples that spread from every raindrop that hit it.

"That will take him ages." predicted Hazel morosely.

"To bloody true." snapped Yuki, glaring at the sodden benches of the stands. "When do we learn to transfigure water into something dry?"

"When you're studying for a Mastery."

Millicent's dark proclamation was greeted with moody silence, even as the Gryffindors cheered another goal and the Huffelpuffs howled in fury as the Twins hounded their Seeker.

"How long do you think it will be before Diggory escapes the Twins long enough to catch the snitch?" asked Flare.

"Slightly longer than it takes the Huffelpuff chasers to get their act together and get the quaffle." Predicted Millicent.

The three ladies of the Gryffindor team swooped over head, the quaffle flying between them at a speed that made it hard to keep track off even when everyone wasn't half blinded by rain.

"We're going to be here for hours!" wailed Hazel.

"You don't say." hissed Indigo. The near silent blaze of bicthy-ness was ignored; they all knew he hated rain.

"You should try to enjoy the game." said Julian, pulling his attention away from the game for a few seconds to turn a serene smile on Hazel. "Come, admire the skill of their flight. Do they not move as though they were born with wings?"

Within a few minutes Hazel was as hypnotised as the rest.

The Slytherins spared them a few, 'you're so sweet I'm getting cavities just thinking about you' looks and returned to their privet sink holes of misery.

Then Flare frowned.

"Is it just me, or is it getting colder?"

They felt the aching misery of dementors nearby moments later.

Xxxxxxxxx

Kingsley Shacklebolt was swearing violently and with get inventiveness.

This wasn't just to vent his feelings, no matter how healthily the mind healers kept saying it was, focusing on the rage helped keep the effects of the dementors at bay. It was the only defence those without Occlumency had against the cold.

There had been twelve aurors at the match, but only seven of them had managed to get angry in time. Fortunately Dumbledore and Snape were strong in Occlumency, and a few of the other teachers and the older students were holding it together well enough to pick up the slack.

The dementors had to be driven off. Now.

A scream of raw, animal fury tore through the air, and a twisting comet of orangey gold magic and rage shot from the stands that the students huddled in, towards the dementors.

Kingsley got the sudden, awful feeling that the dementors might be the lesser problem here. Then his training kicked in and he charged after the out of control kid.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The collapse of their rain shelter snapped the Hit Squad out of their dementor induced stupor. Harry, his attention split between dementors, Neville's sudden departure and maintaining the flow of magic had released the least important aspect, and drenched them all.

"So much for staying dry then." quipped Jackie weakly.

"What just happened to Neville?" asked Susan, who had been sitting next to the brunet, in a dazed tone.

"The aurors are after him." snapped Ron, ignoring them both in favour of more pressing matters.

Indigo hissed a word that made Percy blush.

"We must stop them." murmured Harry, biting his lip. "If they get between him and the dementors…"

The trio bolted, running straight across other students in their haste. The more warlike members of the Hit Squad charged straight after them.

"The aurors-"

"Distraction?"

"Stunners!"

"Fire?"

"In this rain?"

"Quiet! Anyone who can handle them hit the dementors. Indigo, Neville. Everyone else, deal with the aurors. Is that clear?"

When Harry used that tone of voice everything was clear.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Complete and utter homicidal fury is a mountain, and on this mountain there are many little ledges of sanity, points at which the hands are steady, the voice is even and the manner is calm. Points at which only a tiny glint in the eyes betrays the fury within and the destruction to come.

Severus Snape was just standing there, very still, looking at the group of dementors that had fled the enraged Neville to charge at the students. His wand was held loosely in one hand, his expression was one of quiet consideration, and all the students whose brains were still functioning in a semi-normal fashion were moving away from him as quickly as possible.

The dementors, nine of them in total, were not getting away, though that was due to the fact that the shadows cast by the stands had unexpectedly departed their normal positions and tangled the creatures in hair thin threads that, in cheerful defiance of logic, common sense and the laws of physics were holding the things down rather than any particular courage or lack of self preservation instincts.

"Professor Snape, I must ask you to release those creatures immediately."

The Head of Slytherin turned his head slightly and gave the foolish auror, who must have been a Gryffindor, a blank look. The man trembled as run like fuck instincts finally made themselves heard over a dazed need to follow the rules. He was saved from any further thought by a Stunner between the shoulder blades.

Severus watched dispassionately as Susan, her duty towards the preservation of her aunts minions done, ran past to do her duty towards helping her friends beat up authority figures. Then he turned back to the dementors.

He raised his wand slowly, and smiled.

Xxxxxxxx

Kingsley had never been more grateful for freak weather conditions. The hurricane was a terrifying and dangerous blessing; the fact that it had been created by a student, a thirteen year old was… Well, he'd worry about that later. Once the Ravenclaw girl had stopped singing that creepy freaky song that had the dementors not trapped in the wind fleeing her voice and those that were trapped unravelling like dropped balls of string. The song that made his bones ache.

Most of his squad were held captive or unconscious, the ball of rage – was that Longbotton in there?- appeared to be hypnotised by something.

He didn't normally follow the stun now, ask questions later school of thought-

A wand tip dug painfully into the side of his neck.

"I would rather not do this, Professor Shacklebolt, you are an extremely competent teacher and I respect that. But it is my sad duty to inform you that if you do not drop your wand this instant I shall be obliged to do something awful to you."

Kingsley dropped his wand. He had never actually believe Hermione Granger capably of living up to the rather fearsome reputation of her group, but then he had never actually been very good at profiling people.

Xxxxxxxx

The daemon-wraiths were fading, sent back to their own realm by biting winds and strange music. It was good. It was good.

_Neville_

Horrible things, evil things, back to your own world, you were never ment to walk the solid earth, this was never your place. Be gone.

_Goku_

What to destroy now? No attack on this form, no danger, no irritating screaming mortals, just the rain.

_Shar_

Just the voice, just him, the angel-devil with the tween-time sky trapped forever in his eyes. He had hurt them before, died and gone and left them alone in the cold, in the silence.

_I know. I'm sorry. _

Why had he left them? They had been happy.

_Because I was killing you, did kill you brother mine, and I could not stand to let it happen again._

They could protect his form; he simply had to protect their mind.

_Poison never truly goes out of fashion. _

They could still it in his veins. They had done so before.

_But it killed you beloved, you would have survived the mortals blade were I not draining you. Zeia's son could survive that and more._

They were twins, their power the same, their soul the same.

_Never, you were always stronger than me. Always kinder then me, the precious right wing of my soul, the brightness I never had, the gentleness I couldn't keep, my other half, the honestly good person I could never be. We are reverse reflections, never the same. _

Why speak so cruelly of his own being? He brought the sun, the light in the dark, the warmth in the cold, still shining so bright. He brought light and heat and star shine.

_I bring fire. Fire is destruction. I burn people, even you. _

Yes, but it was needed. Destruction created change and new growth.

_Are you with me?_

Yes.

Xxxxxxxxx

Harry had three aurors caught in a watery giant fish bowl, which Yuki had then frozen for him. The other members of the law enforcement agency were held at wand point, a safe distance from each other. Ron and Tracy had seen off the dementors, with some unexpected help from Dumbledore.

Neville and Indigo knelt in the dirt, wrapped in each other's arms, their magic, the colours of molten stone and fire shifting around them in a strange, semi-liquid dance. Neither moved.

"They're stuck." Said Dean softly, appearing at Harry's elbow without warning. "They have to regain balance to get out, but they can't get it. Once they balanced each other, they alone, but they aren't alone anymore, you see? Water must balance fire. Earth must balance air. Earth and fire alone, just doesn't work."

Harry glanced between the artist and his friends.

"What holds us together, when the ties break?"

"The same things that hold other people Harry, I doubt much will change." Dean tipped his head, and smiled slightly. "Go on, Ron looks for your guidance now, he'll only go if you take the first step."

The air near them was heated and almost dry, it smelt of hot stones and dry earth and fire.

Harry knelt, his chest against Indigos back, just as Ron mirrored the action. A hand on each others shoulders, calling on their power, a gentle push to enter the shared mind space that they could enter, had every right to enter, but somehow had never dared to do so.

Something clicked into place, then unravelled and turned to dust.

Someone was screaming.

It might have been him.

* * *

Next time:Repercussions


	8. Chapter 8

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

realarkangel: Soz, in't mean to confuse you

Firehedgehog; Cheers

digisammiegirl; It wasn't a full month! Got me! Also, damn exams. Because they suck. I woul like to give Hermione a paper fan, thanks for the idea!

FallenHope-Angel: My Tracy is fwaesom. 'nuth said.

Holysinner5527: Thank you's. I do love my snaky-babys so...

Sandy Anderson: Yup! I love Grell. He and Sebby should just go off an make lots of evil/psyco babies.

Starfool: Of course I'm going to keep writting. I'm having entirly to much fun to stop now.

* * *

Repercussions

Waking up wasn't painful; there was no headache or nausea to great him on reaching awareness. It just wasn't a nice experience either.

Ron opened his eyes to the stark white of the hospital wing, and frowned at the ceiling.

"Hey." murmured Harry from somewhere to the left. "You're late, if you had woken up ten minutes earlier you would have heard Hannah and Madame Pomfrey arguing, it was quite impressive."

"We so totally corrupted that girl." Ron sat up slowly, pausing for a few moments to reclaim his arm from where it was trapped under Neville, and rubbed his forehead. "I feel, hollow."

Harry nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on the two boys that lay between them. He seemed vaguely sad, and vaguely lost. It wasn't a good look on him.

Someone had pushed a couple of beds together and tucked them all in together, and though they were dry and mud free only their shoes and socks had been removed. It looked like Pomfrey had been unable to get them to let go of each other.

"The bonds broke, didn't they." stated Ron. "The nasty ones I mean. I know I felt something go." He waved a hand, face crease in an expression somewhere between confusion and distress. "I can hardly sense them, or you. And you all feel different somehow. You're the smart one Harry, what's wrong with us?"

A croaked smile.

"We are semi-normal, mentally balanced individuals. To put it another way, we are normal. We no longer require each other around in order to function properly." The green eyed boys sighed softly, absently playing with a lock of Indigo's hair. "I haven't had this much thinking space in lifetimes. My mind is mine alone once more."

"We've reverted to factory settings?"

Ron wrinkled his nose, not entirely comfortable with the idea. Harry laughed.

"Yes Ron, we have reverted to factory settings."

"Wigginsy." mused the redhead, and then gave a light kick to what he presumed was Neville's ankle. "When are you going to stop pretending to be asleep kid?"

"Sometime tonight. Maybe tomorrow."

"…Wh're you kickin' me?" muttered Indigo from somewhere between Neville and Harry's legs. "M' sleepin'."

"Well, you shouldn't be, it's morning already." Ron grinned, the sleepy disorientate version of the blond prince of malice and terror was strangely appealing.

"Let's all become nocturnal." Neville waved a hand vaguely, and then reached over and tried to pull one of Ron's arms over him like a blanket. "Back to sleep now. M'm getting a cold patch on my back."

"What am I, a hot water bottle?"

"Les' yer' goo' fer; somthin'."

Ron huffed, and settled back down to sleep, or be a heater. Harry smiled.

"The more things change, the more they sort of don't."

Xxxxxxxx

The Ministry of Magic was not happy, not happy at all.

Penelope Clearwater, Jackie Darkfrost, Dean Thomas, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Yuki Greengrass, Ron Weasley, Indigo Malfoy, Susan Bones, Tracy Davis and Harry Potter had been gathered into a room to be informed of this fact. Anyone with a sound knowledge of tactics or simply how these kids operate would know it wouldn't go well.

Fudge had been ranting.

"Oh gods that hat!" Neville's head hit the desk. As a way to shut someone up it was surprisingly effective.

"Had you only just noticed it?" asked Yuki, an eyebrow raised disbelievingly.

"I think I was trying to convince myself it wasn't real."

Indigo patted Neville's shoulder, genuinely sympathetic for once in his existence, and was instantly latched onto and used as a teddy bear.

Fudge turned purple, which clashed unattractively with his lime green bowler hat, and swelled up slightly.

"Do you have the faintest idea how much trouble you are in? Attacks on ministry personal! Destruction of ministry property! These are serious crimes!"

"We destroyed no property." stated Penelope, frowning.

"The dementors!"

"They are sentient beings." snapped Dean. "Horrible, evil foul an unnatural I grant, but still sentient beings. They are not objects or property."

"Actually non-human slavery is still legal here." murmured Yuki, gazing at her nails.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop as every Light student turned and glared at Fudge. He spluttered.

"Why are you glaring at me? You have house elves don't you?"

"Legally house elves have no rights." continue Yuki, her tone faintly malicious. "There have been campaigns to bring in new laws to protect them but for some reason it never happens. Funny that."

"Tha- That's not the point!" squawked Fudge, waving a fist. "You have destroyed at least 50 dementors! This is-"

"Shocking, I know." purred Indigo, gazing at Fudge though his eyelashes and smiling pleasantly. "An astonishing talent as well, but never mind that. After all, the real question is what the dementors were doing at that Quiditch match in the first place, isn't it? They're purpose was to patrol the borers of the grounds, and yet they crossed the boundaries, targeted a Quiditch match…"

"Went after students." said Harry idly. "Innocent children, the future or our nation, who could have been Kissed. But we are informed that the Ministry has complete command of the dementors. So, one must come to the final, terrible question. What is the Ministry doing setting these monsters on children?"

"Surely not, just think of the public response to such a thing, why, the government would be lynched. The dementors must simply be more independent then anyone knew."

"But still, whoever came up with the idea of putting such things near children… Clearly not fit for a position of authority."

"I dread to think what the newspapers will make of it."

There was a long moment of silence. Fudge looked increasing more green as the implications dawned on him. Harry maintained an attentive expression and Indigo smiled lazily.

"Er, I feel that it was, perhaps, an overreaction." squeaked Fudge, quailing under the threat levelled at him by a pair of teenage Wizengamot members. "Perhaps the manner should be, er, forgotten about. Yes?"

"Perhaps it should be." said Harry, utterly serene. "Will there be anything else Minister?"

"Um, no."

"How wonderful. Don't you have something terribly important to be doing? Legislation for the protection of House Elves, perhaps?"

"Y-yes, terribly busy…"

Fudge backed out of the room, his expression one of baffled horror.

There was a moment of perfect silence, and then Jackie started laughing.

"My gods that was completely evil! Is the Prophet..?"

"I have absolutely no knowledge of any Muchkins planning to sell the story, complete with pictures, to the newspapers." stated Tracy, an expression of wide eyed innocence on her face. "Neither Hermione or I would ever assist with the writing of such an article."

Jackie started laughing again. This time he showed no signed of stopping.

"While that was somewhat entertaining, please exercise a little restraint Jackie." Penelope pursed her mouth, frowning in a ridiculously lady-like manner. "You sound like a deranged hyena."

"S-sorry! Can't help it!"

"Yes you can. Come on, breathe deeply."

Jackie obeyed. Ron snickered.

"Boy, you are completely an utterly whupped."

He shut up immediately as Penelope gave him a faintly disapproving look.

"The word hypocrite springs to mind." Mussed Susan.

"She's my sister in law, you're allowed to fear your sister in law. Jackie isn't he brother in law, he's not allowed."

"Yet."

Dean was the recipient of a number of shocked stares. He smiled and shrugged.

"Hey, things change. In a few years the situation could be different."

Such statements can cause extreme paranoia if delivered properly. This one was, and did.

"You are very quiet." murmured Harry, barely audible under the sounds of their friend's perplexed conversation.

"Fudge got where he is because he knew how to play the media." Indigo gazed pensively at nothing. "He won't let this go."

"I do so hate it when you make dire predictions."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

William Trelor was a proud man, the descendant of many generations of purebloods, and taught of his superiority from the cradle. He had just pulled a copy of the Daily Prophet out of a bin.

They always said that prison would change a man.

He read the headline, read it again and swore very softly before running back to his fellow escapees.

Josephine, who had been unanimously vote Head Bitch in Charge due to Bellatrix's complete and utter lunacy, frowned slightly at his early return. Her expression changed swiftly to one of shock as he held the newspaper before her eyes.

DEMENTORS SWARM STUENTS!

The pictures were crystal clear, vivid and shocking, the article had been written to stir up trouble, it was a beautiful piece of Ministry slamming PR. No wonder the writer had used a pen name.

Griffins Feather. It was a good name. There were a number of legends about Griffins, one of the best know was that it was impossible to lie around one.

Josephine handed the newspaper to Dag and settled back on her haunches, her wide pale eyes considering.

"It credits the destruction of the dementors to students." said Carrow incredulously, reading over Dag's shoulder. "Students! That's insane!"

The Rockwoods shared a look full of hidden meanings. Bellatrix giggled.

"The Davis family are rich in song magic, Amelia Bones would teach her niece how to fight, the Black Widow had a son and Harry Potter is 13 years old. Who is to say what they could do together?"

"Everyone hates dementors." breathed Josephine.

"We have to go to Hogwarts." said Rodolfus, speaking for the first time since their escape. "We need to know how they did it. To free the others."

"We could easily be caught." stated Luke, ever the voice of common sense. "There is mention of aurors, and we have no way into the castle."

"Actually…" William shrugged. "There are a few passages into Hogsmead. I found one in 6tyh year, starts under Honeydukes and comes out of a statue of a hunchback."

"Hogwarts it is then." Dag grinned. "Should be fun."

This time even the two lunatics glared at him.

Xxxxxxxxx

Say one thing for Cornelius Fudge, say he is a public relations genius.

A blame chain had been constructed with a speed that suggested that he'd been preparing for something like this for several years now, someone had been fire and the focus had been shifted from Hogwarts to the security of Azkaban so smoothly that the panicking public didn't even notice it happen. The new reason to freak out and run around like headless chickens kept everyone far to busy to ask their elected leader difficult questions.

And while Fudge waited for the public to forget about the matter, he made a few fire calls to a certain gossip mongering reporter of his acquaintance.

Rita Skeeter entered Hogwarts on the pretence of investigating the effects of the dementors attack on the students and the feelings towards the wraiths, which had not been removed. She had Dumbledore's permission to be there.

She found Ginny Weasley with the speed born of many years experience in locating the people who would give her the stories she wanted to hear.

The possessions and petrifactions of last year, an opinion on the DADA teachers and off course a few of the rumours that surrounded the Hit Squad. Oh, what a nest of scandal and gossip Hogwarts had become.

An attack on Harry Potter would have to be carefully worded, and any accusations on the Huffelpuff trio would go badly for her, but there were 5 dark side purebloods in the group and the Weasleys were peculiar enough to make a decent target. Considering the, unconventional relationships the three elders boys had entered into it wouldn't be too difficult to worry the conservative public, but something a little extra was needed.

The library was full of busy students and hiding places. Harry Potter was sitting with several friends, scowling at a roll of parchment.

"Why do people ask such stupid questions?"

"To make sure you know the answers." answered Davis absently.

"Why do they think I don't? They are very obvious answers."

"Because, on average, humanity is sub monkey." explained Malfoy, who was drawing on Neville Longbottoms arm. "The intelligent ones are cancelled out by the stupidity of the majority."

"Perhaps we should do something about that…" murmured Granger.

"What are you suggesting?" asked Moon mildly.

"Well, consider America. They elected George Bush. They invented spray cheese. They clearly deserve to suffer. Let's make them suffer."

"Hermione, we cannot blow up America." stated Potter firmly. "No matter how valid your point may be."

"We would never manage to stock up enough explosives." agreed Bones.

"We could get enough to blow up Texas, surely." said Moon, a maniacal note in his voice. "If we take out the Bible Belt it's bound to improve matters no end. And George Bush was from Texas."

"The idea has merit, though wizzarding Britain is really in no position to be critical of other peoples elected leaders." Malfoy sounded faintly amuse. "Also, hit wizards."

"Yes, those could prove…" Potter trailed off and sighed deeply. "Indigo, why have you drawn a skull on Neville's forearm?"

"Harry, why do you ask questions to which you already know the answers?"

"He's still refusing to let go?"

"I may not be able to attend my next lesson."

"That's tomorrow morning. Surely he'll have woken up by then."

"Ari, I have drawn a skull on his arm. With a quill. These things tickle like hell."

Potter incline his head towards Malfoy in acknowledgment of the point, and both boys returned to their previous occupations.

Granger rested her head on Davis's shoulder.

"It has come to the point that I not only find it normal when they do that, but can also make a reasonable guess about what they are talking about. This worries me."

"There there darling." murmured Davis, kissing the top of the muggelborns fuzzy head. "It happens to us all in the end."

Xxxxxxxxxx

The next morning the Great Hall was subjected to a vast horde of worried, whispering teenagers.

Severus glare at them on principle an unfolded his newspaper.

"That's a terrible waste of coffee sir." said Julian, whose good reflexes had enabled him to avoid the spray, just. "Is there a problem?"

"Other than the newspapers declaring that my best student has been convince to destroy Texas and become a dark lord, while keeping my stepson as his dark consort? No, everything is fine." Severus rubbed his forehead, glaring at the newspaper as he read on. "Or is Indigo becoming a dark lord, having brainwashed the Hit Squad into supporting his quest for world domination, and keeping Harry and Neville as his concubines? Skeeter is somewhat unclear on precisely who is in charge."

Julian looked faintly disturbed.

"They seem a little young to have, or be, consorts or concubines."

"That is the point which disturbs you?"

"Paedophilia is a deeply evil thing. But Harry, Indigo or Susan becoming a Dark Lord or Lady strikes me as somewhat inevitable, and since anyone of them would run the country significantly better than our current leader the matter is of little concern to me. If you will excuse me professor."

Julian went to Hazel, who had been beckoning him for a few minutes. Severus turned to Professor Sprout.

"Are all your students like that?"

"Well, we are a very practical house…"

Xxxxxxxxxx

Augusta Longbottom read the Daily Prophet with ever deepening incredulity.

Her boys, becoming concubines? To ark lords? At their age? And destroying Texas along the way! How utterly inappropriate, she would have to have a word with the editor of the Daily Prophet about this nonsense. The toss he had started printing was simply absurd.

She would send a howler. Right after she had found out what all this fuss about Texas was.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The Weasley boys receive Howlers from their mother at lunchtime. As all four went off simultaneously it was rather hard to work out just what Mrs Weasley was shouting about most of the time.

"…Shame on you… Comes of consorting with… No good... You will have no further contact with that boy!"

The howlers went up in flames.

Percy raised an interesting question.

"Which boy is she talking about precisely?"

* * *

An next time; Psychiatrists and Home


	9. Chapter 9

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

Misting Rain: Thank you

realdarkangel; Thank you

FEARMEfrancis: Soz 'bout that. I find writting lots of Hakkai hard, he's not a very noisy personality. Sanzo is, so he tends to grab the screen time.

mist shadow; Yes, deligation is made of win. But they have bible bashers as well, and fanatics suck all kinds of ass. Tho' not literaly.

amimegirl1994;Thank you

FallenHope-Angel: Thank you, and that is percisly why it won't happen.

Sandy Anderson: Er, probaly Sebastian but with them who really knows.

SometimesItsNotEnough/Holysinner: Hello, person with two profiles, an thank you.

HeavenSentHellBroken: My sympathies on your day from hell. Glad i could help.

* * *

Psychiatrists and Home 

There is something to be said for the influence of a welfare state. They levied restrictions on the media, and looked after children, even nutty, dangerous children, to a remarkable degree. However, Wizzarding Britain was not a welfare state, and so rather than the government threatening the media for making ludicrous accusations at children, they ordered mental evaluations instead.

Neville frowned at the letter.

"Why do I have to go see a mind healer? No ones accusin' me of tryin' to take over the world! I'm a Huffelpuff! We just don't do that sort of thing!"

"Though if we did, we would quite probably be successful." mused Susan. "Evil empires fail due to impracticality and in fighting. We are a practical house and our loyalty would prevent infighting."

This was considered for a few moments. Then Harry nodded.

"This is perfectly true. Should you ever lead a Huffelpuff pursuit of world domination I would like to offer my assistance in return for southern Italy."

"Dually noted."

Oliver turned to his fiancé, his expression one of mild concern.

"Percy, does it ever worry you that your 13 year old friends are considering world domination?"

"Since they would probably get board and forget about it halfway through or implement sensible reforms, no. It doesn't worry me at all."

"Huh."

xxxxxxxx

The trip back to Platform 9 & ¾ for the Christmas holiday was noticeably quieter than normal. The general assumption was that the Defenders of Anarchy where planning something massive for the trip back

Xxxxxxxx

"Harry!"

Sirius Black, despite considerable therapy and the calming influence of Remus Lupin, was as exuberant as ever, and the attempt to avoid the glomp failed pathetically.

"Why didn't you tell me you were planning to take over the world? Am I not your dogfather? Do I not deserve to know?"

"I am not actually planning to take over the world."

"The horror!"

"Inside voices Sirius."

"But we're outside Moony."

Remus sighed, looking heavenwards for calm.

"That is not the point. Hello Harry, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm quite well." said Harry, wiggling out of Sirius's arms and looking Remus over thoughtfully. "You've gained weight, finally. It's about time you started looking after him properly, Sirius."

Sirius blushed. Remus blushed. Harry looked between them, an ended up blushing as well.

Ron, walking past them to face his mother, glanced at them and snickered. Loudly.

Perhaps in response to the deep an intense embarrassment the trio were radiating Madame Longbottom swooped over to claim her ward, and the reports that had been edging towards them fled the force of her glare.

"I suppose you two will want to visit over Christmas."

"If you wouldn't mind Augusta." said Remus meekly.

She pursed her mouth.

"You keep him," Sirius yelped as he was jabbed with her umbrella, "under control. My son told me about your antics at Hogwarts and I will not have it in my house."

"Yes ma'm."

"Alright then. Where on earth has my grandson gotten to..?"

Harry wordlessly pointed to a clump of over excited reporters.

Xxxxxxxxx

"Who are you to be my brothers concubine? How are you suitable? What are your qualifications, huh?"

Miranda was glaring, Neville was quailing, Yuki was looking highly amused and Indigo was banging his head against a reporters shoulder. Said reporter was looking a bit terrified.

"Can you sing?" demanded the 10 year old, who as somehow looming over Neville, despite being significantly shorter than the brunet. "Can you dance? Can you swear a blue streak in Russian an at least three other languages?"

"No! I can't! I'm sorry!"

"Then what are you doing in my brothers harem you useless little man?"

"I'm not in his harem!" wailed Neville, half tearful. "I don't wanna be in his harem! I don't!"

This did not appease Miranda in the slightest.

"And what, precisely, is wrong with my brothers harm?"

"I don't know! I'm sorry! I'm sure it's a very nice harem! I'm sorry!"

"So you do want to be in Indigo's harem!"

Nevilles face was a study in bafflement.

"Miranda! Cease!"

The reporters went a little more wild as Indigo pulled himself together.

"There no harem, okay? None! I do not have a harem! I do not want a harem! I am 13! That is too young for one lover, let alone several!"

The last statements made a lot of people feel suddenly very bad about themselves.

"No harem?"

"No!"

"But, your pretty." protested Miranda, waving a hand vaguely. "You could total have a harem. And dark lords are supposed to have harems."

"…I think people with harems generally have better things to do than become dark lords, and I'm not actually a dark lord. Why do you want me to have a harem anyway? Scratch that, you're 10, why do you even know what a harem is?"

"I read. Compulsively. And I want to be an auntie, and rule Spain."

"But, you don't speak Spanish."

"I could learn!"

"Well yes, but…" Indigo trailed off, rubbing his forehead. "You know what? Screw it. Have Spain, just don't expect me to take it over for you. I am going home with Flare."

Indigo stalked off, Augusta came to claim her distressed grandson and Yuki giggled evilly and walked off, arm in arm with Miranda.

Sirius leaned heavily against Remus, his grey eyes wide and slightly fearful.

"Moony, I'm worried. Why are Harry's friends so weird?"

"I suspect that they are friends because they are weird, or they many have gained weirdness from each other by osmosis…"

"What's osmosis?"

The half-blood reader of scientific journals hesitated.

"I'll tell you later. Augusta has invited us to tea, we mustn't be late."

"Okay!"

Remus sighed as Sirius dashed off. He was not anticipating having to explain osmosis to the pureblood in the slightest. With luck Sirius's short attention span would kick in, and he would have forgotten all about it by the time they got home.

Xxxxxxxxx

The start of the Christmas holiday had been extremely tense in the Weasley household.

Molly was fuming, Ginny was plotting, Arthur was as uselessly oblivious as ever, and Ron was the only one of the three boys at home who wasn't wandering around looking hopelessly emo due to the lack of Jackie. It was really something of a shame that Bill and Charlie hadn't managed to get home from Christmas, they would have undoubtedly have found the situation hilarious.

The explosion was inevitable, really.

"-an those friends of yours Percy, I mean it nice that you have friends your own age at last, but letting them call themselves your-"

The dinner table became abruptly silent as Percy, finally pushed too far, slammed his table knife though the two inch thick wood.

The Twins actually snapped out of their 'we miss Jackie' funk for long enough to goggle at their brother's unexpected display of brute strength and stare at their own cutlery in wonder.

"You speak of my fiancés, madam." Percy stated, his tone one of pure ice that he just had to have stolen from Yuki. "Have a care."

"Wha… No." Molly straightened, and frowned sternly at her third eldest son. "No Percy, you will not marry those, people. I will not permit it."

"I turned 18 last month. I no longer require my parents' permission to wed." Percy raised his chin and glared a challenge. "And I thought that you wanted your children happily married. You have been bugging Bill and Charlie to settle down since they got jobs."

"I may wish my children happily settle but I will not tolerate an unfaithful wife to one of my boys! I will not tolerate some, some churlish boys' bastard children to call me grandmother!"

"As Penelope an Oliver both have perfectly pleasant, charming and affectionate mothers I see no reason why any children of my marriage should call you anything at all." Percy offered his mother a glacially polite smile. "And since I am just a churlish boy that shouldn't bother you in the slightest."

"You will not marry that slut!"

The fork impaled the wood, missing Molly's hand by a fraction of an inch, and Percy snarled. For the first time in his life the warrior fey blood he had inherited from his mother shone clearly in his face.

"You will not insult my beloveds!"

"How are you take that tone with me?"

"Molly-wobbles, perhaps you should…"

"How dare you insult my fiancés?"

"I'm gonna be under the table, if anyone need."

"I am your mother boy!"

"We'll be-"

"-with Ron."

"Me too."

"You are a vindictive controlling harpy!"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

"Gladly." hissed Percy, glaring down at his enraged parent. "Excuse me whilst I pack my things."

He swept out, slamming the door hard enough to send plates crashing from the dresser as he left. A few moments later Ginny crawled out from under the table, and picked her way around the crockery shards to go after him.

"What are you doing Ginny?"

"Going to help Percy pack." stated Ginny, facing down her mother's stare. "You shouldn't have said that Mum, any of it. Penelope and Oliver are nice, they love him and he loves them."

Her brothers, half shamed by their little sisters sudden dip into being a good sibling and same, un-obsessive human being, crawled out as well. The Twins went with Ginny to help Percy. Ron grabbed the floo powder and went to arrange accommodation.

They knew 8 people who live in manors; at least one of them would be willing to put him up for a few weeks.

Xxxxxxxxx

Gideon Wick had always liked his job. He got to meet lots of interesting –insane- people and had the warm, fuzzy feeling of helping them.

Neville Longbottom was worrying him, and not for any of the normal reasons people worried him.

"-an' it was on fire but the ice cream wasn't meltin', an' it can't be magic 'cause their muggels so how'd they do it?" Neville fixe huge, confused, imploring eyes on Gideon and wave his hands wildly. "Unless everyone's been lyin' an' muggels do have magic, which would explain a lot actually."

"Er, would it?"

"Uh-huh, like TV's an' radios an' how fridges work!"

"I think they work by, uh, electricity and science."

"But don't they say that magic is just science they don't get yet? 'Cause I don't get how TV's work at all."

"Uh…"

The boy was defiantly odd. Very odd. Insane, well maybe a bit, but not beyond the limits of acceptable wizzarding lunacy.

"I, um, think I can sign you off Neville, you clearly have good mental health."

"I do? Yay! Where can I get cake around here? I haven't had anything since breakfast and I'm really hungry."

"There is a café on the top floor-"

The boy was gone.

Xxxxxxxx

"-I really have no intention to become a Dark Lord, Healer Medowsweet. It seems like entirely too much trouble."

"That is a good perspective to take Harry." Cooed Medowsweet, a person of indeterminate gender an heavy mascara. "However, there is another matter to be addressed."

"There are?"

S/he tittered sweetly. Harry just managed not to grind his teeth.

"Those nasty rumours about your becoming a concubine Harry."

"Oh, those. Those are just vile; honestly, I'm only 13, who even thinks of things like that?"

"I quiet agree. Just assure me that you won't become anyone's concubine, or consort, and we'll put an end to all this silliness."

Harry considered. On the one hand he was being offered a way to get away from this weird giggly person, on the other said weird giggly person had dragged him away from a truly fascinating conversation about the properties of syrup of hellebore and needed to pay.

"Oh, I don't know. It would be limiting my options rather."

Medowsweets eyelashes fluttered so hard that one fell off.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Well healer, come the zombie apocalypse wizzarding society will divide into two levels, the overlords and their consorts and concubines, and minions. If I promise that I won't become a concubine then I'll have to become an overlord instead, and that would be so troublesome."

The other set of false eyelashes joined the first on the floor.

"Harry, sweetie, there isn't going to be a zombie apocalypse."

"You don't know that! There are hundreds of viruses that attack brain tissue! And muggels have created these tiny machines that can keep the body functional after death! Not to mention necromancy!" Harry hit Medowsweet with an expression of huge eyed panic. "It could start any day now!"

"Harry, you need to calm down. Deep breathes, okay? Do you need a hug?"

Harry compose himself instantly, an offered him/her a polite smile.

"I don't do hugs."

"Oh honey, are you shy?"

"I'm not shy." Harry's smile changed, gained extra teeth and the idea of fangs. "I'm poisonous."

Xxxxxxxxx

Healer Jenkins was an intelligent woman with considerable experience in her field, and because she was intelligent and experienced she had come to this session with the expectation was a perfectly normal, fully functional member of society.

She'd been right about the functional bit at least.

"So you may actually destroy Texas?"

"Not all of it, just the religious fanatics in the population."

"What do you have against Christians?"

"It's not Christians, its religions as a whole. They bug me. Though I do fin the 'thou shall not suffer a witch to live' statement in Christianity extremely offensive, and the stuff against homosexuality? Not cool."

"Are you gay?"

"Meh, the jury has been out for a while now. I just think that anything consenting adults chose to do together is nobody's business but theirs."

"Ah." She considered this. "Well, good. I like that philosophy. And are you becoming a dark lord?"

"Gods no. The bother, the hassle, the paperwork!"

She snickered into her notes.

"Right, and Harry Potter?"

"Is a friend, though I could do a lot worse…"

"Do try to mess with my head kid, that's my job. But I take it you're willing to be a consort."

"Consenting adults, healer."

"Kid, you're sane enough for me. Go home."

Xxxxxxx

They met in the café. Neville was inhaling cake when Harry arrived.

"Good afternoon."

"Hey, you took your time."

Harry smiled pleasantly and accepted the cup of tea Indigo had poured for him.

"Yes, I had to convince my healer of the plausibility of a zombie apocalypse before it would let me go."

"Z-zombie?"

"Indeed."

"Why is your healer an it?" asked Indigo mildly.

"I was unable to determine either its actual gender, or the gender it preferred to be perceived as. Thus it is an it." Harry sipped his tea and sighed happily. "That's better. Is Percy staying with you Indigo? Ron said you extended the invitation but…"

"He was, but then Grandmother came to visit unexpectedly and he moved to Flare's for his own safety. Ma-ji seems to like him."

Neville raised his head and made a quizzical noise.

"Grandmother on the Malfoy side. She's imposing and hates people."

"Okay." chirruped Neville, finishing his slice of cake and zooming off to get another.

"How many?"

"That's the sixth."

"Where does it go?"

"I like the black hole theory. Is he actually carrying any money?"

Harry blinked twice. Indigo sighed.

"I'll go and fire call your guardian."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Josephine glared across the sad little fire at her fellow escapees.

"Remind me, whose bright idea was it to go to Scotland in the middle of winter again?"

No one answered her.

* * *

next time:Howlers and Fanghouls


	10. Chapter 10

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

Holysinner5527: I do like the take. Dark lorship kind of seems like something for people withnothing better to do.

realarkangel: Thank you

mist shadow: Soz 'bout the grammer and spelling. I'm a bit dyslexic an my keyboard is stuffed.

Misting Rain: Thank you

ammiegirl1994: Thank you

Firehedgehog: Thank you

FEARMEfrancis: It does promise to be interesting

The Wyrd Sister: Yeah, the d on my keyboard isn't working right

Sandy Anderson: Sirus... maybe. You arn't making me uncomfortable. I write this nonsence, I have no right to to question anyones sanity.

Gnos fo Ytinrete: Jackie is half wild fey, Snape is actully a cat demon thing, the Weasleys have warrior fey blood, which is like Jackie but more suited to ripping peoples heads off, and no-one else's species has been directly adressed yet.

FallenHope-Angel: Thank you

MoonPrincess623: Hazel's last name is Moon and Hazel is the re-encarnation of Hazel Grouse. Harry and Indigo might get together. Hermione and Tracy are not technicaly together yet, and yes the Triwizzard tornement s going to piss a lot of people off. My take on Gojyo is chronic bi-sexual flirt, so he's bit gay yeah.

leighargeneau: Thank you

* * *

Howlers and Fanghouls

"Percival Weasley!"

Something small and shinny flew though the air.

Dean tipped his head, his expression one of deep confusion.

"Was that a fork?"

"Yes Dean-"

"-yes it was."

The artist considered this for a few moments.

"That, is very, very cool. Is Tracy alright?"

"She just had a minor fangasm." said Jackie, grinning like a lunatic. "Just give her a minute to compose herself."

Dean looked between the cutlery warfare and the happily squeaking Ravenclaw, and shrugged.

"Alright, but if Percy misses the train I am blaming it on you."

Xxxxxxxxx

Around halfway to Hogwarts all the compartment doors flew open and music such as the Wizzarding World ha not previously known existed filled the train.

"_Speak my friend you look surprised/ I thought you knew I'd come in disguise/ On angel wings/ In white…"_

"_Pain/ Without love/ Pain/ I like it rough…"_

Around 7 minutes the Defenders of Anarchy scattered to remove their costumes and practice their alibis.

"Huh." Harry blinked. "Mash up."

"For people who call themselves defenders of anarchy they can be very organised at time." mused Susan.

"Don't they harmonise beautifully?" cooed Hannah, delighted. "And such inventive costumes!"

Millicent looked at the smaller girl, utterly perplexed.

"No-one can possibly be that nice."

"But she is." stated Dean, smiling fondly.

"Genuinely?"

"Yes."

"Is she an alien?"

"Nobody knows, but she certainly isn't normal."

Harry frowned thoughtfully, gazing at the door and considered when he had last seen Indigo. The assumption was more or less inevitable.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Dumbledore was interestingly un-twinkly eyed at the Welcome feast, and there seemed to be more aurors around.

The Hit Squad took this as their cue to sit up and pay attention.

"Students, I fear that I have grave news."

The tense, worried whispers filled the hall as though pre-arranged.

Hermione looked suspiciously at the rafters before reminding herself that muggel speakers didn't work at Hogwarts.

"I am sure you are all aware of the Death Eaters who are still on the loose. What you may not be aware of is that they have been sighted heading north. The Ministry is forced to assume that they are heading towards Hogwarts."

Complete and utter panic broke out across 3/4's of the hall. The Gryffindors jumped to their feet and started shouting. The Ravenclaws clutched their books and muttered. The Huffelpuffs clutched each other and whispered comforts. The Slytherins clutched their wands, and awaited the fall out.

"They shouldn't be here!" screamed a 7th year, gesturing wildly at the Snakes house. "Everyone knows that-"

A goblet of pumpkin juice hit him squarely in the side of the head.

"Bellatrix Lestrange was a Huffelpuff." said Harry, voice loud and clear, arm still half raise from the throw. "Rodolfus Lestrange and Luke Rookwood were Ravenclaws. Dag Svenson was a Gryffindor. The year books are in the library, you can check for yourself if you don't believe me."

He might as well have dumped ice water over the hall.

"Now, if you are quite finished screaming and tossing around stupid accusations," the 7th year quailed under Harry's brilliant green glare. "perhaps the headmaster could finish what he was saying?"

The stunned silence held and stretched.

Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly.

"As I was saying, they are assumed to be heading towards us, but the castle is secure. Hogsmead, however, is less so, and as such all further trips to Hogsmead must be in groups of 5 or more, and accompanyed by an auror. A list will be placed in the Entrance Hall for groups to register, and this must be one at least 2 days in advance of the Hogsmead weekend. That will be all."

Dumbledore sat own, and food filled the tables. For once it was ignored as talk washed over the hall once more.

"-are we really safe here?"

"Quirrel, and Lockhart last year-"

"-no real protection-"

"-one auror is hardly enough!"

"Would you stop wailing already?" boomed Neville, glaring around the now silent hall. "There are 7 of them! They are half starved, half frozen, half mad and using other peoples wands! They are as weak as they could possibly be and yet you piss yourselves!" The irate little Huffelpuff seemed to swell under their stares. "If you wanna panic do it quietly, I'm tryin' to eat my dinner. Anyway, there are scarier things that are closer by to freak out over if you wanna. A bunch a blood puritists are just kinda lame."

Eyes inevitably turned to certain reputedly scary people.

"We have giant spiders in the forest, and you are looking at me." Indigo snorted. "I'm not sure if that is flattering or depressing."

"Whoa, giant spiders?" asked Ron, easily audible across the quiet hall.

"Why, are you scared of spiders, Weasley-boy?" Indigo's smile was pure evil.

Ron opened his mouth, close it again, sighed and slumped slightly.

"You suck."

"You blow."

At the teachers table Snape buried his head in his hands and tried to work out what he was going to tell his wife when this little incident came up.

"You swallow." responded Ron, grinning like the lunatic he was.

The response was laid out like four aces in a card game.

"You wish."

Noise, at last, returned. And this time it had a very different source.

Xxxxxxx

A howler arrived for Percy Weasley the next morning. He listened to its message in increasingly threatening silence.

Then he raised his head.

"I am going to rip out her intestines and knit them into a scarf!"

"Sweet Hecate, that is disgusting." squawked Oliver, face screwed up. "Can you imagine the smell?"

Hermione, as ever, focused on more important things.

"You can knit?"

Percy looked faintly confuse for a moment.

"Good point. Well made. I can't knit."

"Drat, I was hoping you could teach me."

Over at the Ravenclaw table Tracy was looking disturbingly happy.

"I love that girl."

Harry, Hazel and Julian exchange a look.

"We know Tracy, we know."

Xxxxxxxx

Ginny was troubled.

Her mother had always told her that love mattered, really, really mattered. That two people in love could do almost anything, that love was the most important thing in the world, that if you loved someone enough you would find a way to be together, no matter what stood in your way.

Percy loved Oliver and Penelope, and they loved him. Love mattered so very much.

So why was Mum so against them being together and happy together?

She sighed, leaning out of the window slightly and staring out over the grounds. It didn't make sense.

"If you jump, not only will I not grab you, but the fall from this height probably won't kill you."

Ginny span around and cast the first hex that came to mind. Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her as it impacted on the wall behind him.

"Bat bogy hex, Weaslette? You have 6 older brothers girl, I expected something more interesting."

"What do you want Malfoy?"

"Tea, maple and pecan cookies, Japan, weaponry and a lot of other things you could never provide." drawled the blonde, sauntering over to join her at the window. "But at this particular moment I would like to know where your little obsession with Harry stems from."

"I am not obsessed! I love him!"

"You don't know him you daft bint, you love an idea."

"I do kn-"

"What's his favourite colour?"

Ginny gapped for a moment before rallying.

"Red."

"No, that's just Gryffindor colours, stop projecting your fantasy. Blue. Favourite food?"

"Treacle tart."

"You watch him eat? Creepy. Again, no. It's chicken korma. Do you still claim to know him Weaslette?"

"I love him. He saved my life last year."

"Harry only went after you because Ron asked, and Neville killed the basilisk. Do you love Neville?"

Oh, he didn't know. How lovely.

"Harry saved my life Malfoy. I was in no danger from the basilisk, but he destroyed a spirit possessing me though-"

The diary of Tom Riddle was laid slowly on the windowsill between them. Ginny paled, moving half a step back.

"Where the hell did you get that?"

"I think I shall leave that to your imagination. The gossip should be interesting if nothing else. You need only know that Harry did not destroy your possessor, he abandoned your body and left the school." Malfoy tipped his head. "Is there anything else?"

Ginny glared.

"I know why you are doing this Malfoy. You want me out of the way so you can have my Harry for yourself!"

"He is not yours, he is quite firmly his own and if you actually loved him you would accept that. Also, let's be frank here Weaslette, if I ever went after Harry romantically you would be no sort of competition."

"What?"

"I have known him since he was 7 years old, I went to Diagon Ally when his Hogwarts letter arrived, he is apprenticed to my stepfather, and on top of all that I am his own age and prettier then you are."

"You are not!"

"Where's your fan club Weaslette?"

She glared. He smirked.

"If I am no threat then why bother with all this?"

"You are freaking Millicent out, and showing actual signs of humanity which should be encouraged. Also Harry finds you creepy as hell and I don't like owing people things. Murdering you is, unfortunately out due to your brothers, so here we are."

He waved one hand vaguely, the Malfoy signet ring shinning in the sunlight. Showing of the family wealth that he hadn't mentioned earlier.

"My Harry need not fear me." snapped Ginny, tossing her head in the way that she knew set her hair blazing like fire. "I will never hurt him."

"Love potions are classed by law as grievous bodily harm, while attraction charms are classed as actual bodily harm. You would never get the drop on him with a potion, but the punishment for the charms in 10 years under a chastity spell. Worse probably, as Harry is the oh so famous Boy-Who-Lived." Malfoy fixed his eyes on her face. "How do you react to dementors?"

"Love potions are an affront to romance and I distain them." Honestly, the mere suggestion. "I shall win my Harry's love on my own merits-"

"Which are?"

"-and I shall certainly not stand idly by while you bewitch him into joining your harem of darkness." Ginny found his expression of irritated, bemuse disbelief rather amusing. "Not that anyone would want to join it."

"Hmph." He jerked his chin up, sending his hair flowing over one shoulder in a smooth golden river. "Let us make one thing perfectly clear Weaslette. If I want a harem of darkness, I shall have a harm of darkness. And the members shall be glad of it."

Malfoy turned and stalked off, the very image of an insulted cat standing on their dignity.

Getting her to admit it would be like pulling teeth from a tiger, but the Twins had been Ginny's favourite brothers growing up. She could appreciate that sort of thing.

Her slightly maniacal laughter echoed through a large portion of the castle.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Harry had been aware that he would upset a considerable number of people with his statements at the Welcome Feast, but he also know that the Ravenclaw's at least would check the facts and, on finding them accurate, leave him be. He had, however, expected more trouble than he had at first received.

It had been almost a week, and this was the first time he had been cornered by the 4th-6th year Gryffindors, who were one of the only serious threat groups.

"What did you think you were doing, spouting that bull-"

"Ahem."

Penelope's presence was more or less expected. The Slytherin prefect at her side and the 1st year snakeling beside her were not.

"Is something the matter here?" she asked, tone arch. "You seem so terribly distressed."

The Gryffindors scattered under the Head Girls pointed stare.

"10 points to Slytherin for such responsible action on discovering an impending fight." stated Penelope, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Harry, stay with the Hit Squad."

Harry had meant to, truly, but the uncharacteristic actions of the snake's house had been just a little bit to interesting.

A trio of furious Huffelpuff 7th years this time.

Marcus Flint and the Slytherins massive beaters had stepped in, Yuki and an unknown 2nd year behind them.

"Alright, what is going on?" asked Harry, staring at them, perplexed. "I have never received this level of protection before and I would very much like to know why I am receiving it now."

The Quiditch players grunted and slopped off while the 2nd year pulled a rather impressive vanishing act.

Yuki rolled her eyes.

"Men."

"I would like an answer Yuki."

"You do that school mistress look really well." She mused. "It is actually quite impressive. Walk with me."

They walked, and were watched cautiously by pretty much everyone they passed, including those who had previously offered violence.

One member of the Hit Squad could be a target; two would at the very least take you down with them.

"Did you notice the house colours of the groups?"

"Yes." stated Harry, uncertain why it mattered. "3 Huffelpuffs. 2 Ravenclaws, a Huffelpuff and a Gryffindor. 2 Gryffindors and a Huffelpuff. 3 Slytherins. 4 Ravenclaws. A Ravenclaw and a Huffelpuff. 3 Slytherins."

Yuki smiled slightly.

"Think team colours."

Harry considered this statement for a moment.

"No Slytherin ever walks alone, and few walk with members of other houses. The only exceptions to this rule are the Hit Squad and the Munchkin Army, for while the Defenders of Anarchy are a multi-house organisation they do not meet in public."

"You get it now don't you Harry? The first rule of Slytherin hous is stick up for each other because no-one else will. We have each other and we have blood family. That is all. We are grudgingly tolerate, not accepted."

"How long has this been going on for?" asked Harry tightly.

"Centuries." Yuki's tone was light, flippant. "Longer I expect. No-one really knows. We fought hard you know, to stay your friends. If you were not who you are the prefects would have kept us away from you, for our safety."

"Because getting Harry Potter on your side could change the entire way that Slytherins are treated at Hogwarts."

He had not considered that before. In hindsight, it was foolish of him.

"Politics start young in the old families Harry, and I would like to point out that we were your friends before we were Slytherins. But it worked, don't you see? Fights reduced, the teachers glare less now, Slytherins can openly be friends with members of other houses without that friend being orchestrated by their house."

Harry would like to have known about it earlier, but he recognised this as a pursuit of safety rather than actual politics and did not really object.

"That began earlier. Why am I being protected now?"

Yuki gave him an odd little smile.

"Because only Slytherins stick up for Slytherins, but you did. We took a vote, and decided that you are one of us now. You're an honouree Slytherin Harry Potter, and we shall look after you."

"All because of my actions at the feast?"

"You do not know what danger you save us from."

Xxxxxxxx

Another howler arrived the next morning. Molly Weasley made accusations of whor-dom, drunkenness, infidelity and downright stupidity. Percy was very still for a time.

"I shall require 11 spoons, 6 knives, a fork and Neville's most recent potions accident."

Snape blinked once.

"Not even your mother deserves that Weasley."

"I dunno man." said Ron, the only person stupid or insane enough to call Severus Snape 'man'. "That stuff about whors was why not cool. They do a tough but important service to society, and they should be left be. They don't deserve more trouble."

"Service to society." echoed Neville blankly.

"Well yeah, ugly people have needs to."

"Ron…" Hermione waved a hand for a moment, searching for the right words. "While I do not fault the sentiment that prostitutes do not deserve to be insulted, there are children in the room. This conversation is not appropriate."

"Why? They're gonna learn about sex sooner or later anyway."

"Later is generally to be preferred." said Harry blankly. "Particularly here."

"Why?" asked Ron, head on one side.

Harry floundered for a moment.

"Well, where would they get condoms?"

"Yeah, okay. Good point, very good point. Forget I said anything. Use protection kids!"

Ron was stared at. His response was to sit down and pretend it wasn't happening.

* * *

Next time: The Edge of Disaster 


	11. Chapter 11

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

realdarkangel: I kind og hate that I can't work that in.

FEARMEfrancis: What is it with people making awesom sugestions just when I can't get them in the story?

Firehedgehog; -grins-

lordamnesia: That was kinda fun

mist shadow: I'm going with a bit of both

Misting Rain: You may be right, but spell check was not helpful on the subject.

aminegirl1994: Cheers.

Sakura Lisel; I think Percy suffers from manners an the urge to commit murder.

FallenHope-Angel; Er, Nevs gonna have to sort himself out. Goku+hormones tends to tie my brain in knots.

Holysinner5527: My Percy is pretty damn cool, I have to say.

Sandy Anderson: Good point. Din't his little brother get poisoned? I forget. I apoligise for saying you aren't insane, but you just seem pretty funtional to me. Sorry.

Chaos Babe: Trust me, you don't scare me nearly enough to be acused of Ginny Weaslyism.

Authors Note:: It has been almost a month. I am sorry. I am really sorry. My muse is playing silly buggars again.

Morafus Grea: Next chapter. Promise.

: Hey, person with no name. He is indeed, only without some of the creepy, and the obsessed shinigami. I kind of want obsessed shinigami...

* * *

The Edge of Disaster 

Molly Weasley was a good, if somewhat over-protective, mother. She would accept nothing less for her children than their being securely married, happy and loved. She wanted what was best for them.

The howler that Penelope Clearwater had sent incinerated itself over the remains of the breakfast she had shared with her husband less than an hour before.

Molly sat down quickly. The girl couldn't mean- Not really-

Arthur found his wife still sitting there when he returned home in search of a cooked lunch.

Xxxxxxxxx

A curious mood had settled over Hogwarts. The closest comparison that Dumbledore could find was that of a bladed pendulum, perfectly balanced and ready to cut either way at the slightest touch. It wasn't quite right though.

People had checked the old year books. Facts had been verified. He had not been able to remove them in time.

There was a lot of anger, and a lot of shame. The Snakes were holding themselves with a certain injured dignity and the Gryffindors were somewhere between fury and self-disgust.

It could go either way.

The Slytherins could accept the tentative offers of friendship that the others houses were slowly extending and join the school properly. They could lash out and remain as the outcasts they had always been, or a fight could begin and make the divisions worse than even.

Much as it galled him to admit it Dumbledore could not actually affect the outcome of this scenario, not without tipping his hand too far, and possibly losing what remained of his reputation in doing so.

He did not want the Slytherins to integrate; it would disturb the balance of the school entirely too much. He could not stop them.

Or perhaps…

The escaped Death Eaters were heading towards Hogwarts. If they got in, if even one Slytherin took their side, the majority wanted to believe the worst after all…

Perhaps he was not as powerless as he had thought.

Xxxxxxxx

The Hogsmead weekend was always going to be awkward.

No-one was going on a date this time, not with the aurors watching them; the groups that went were tense, wary and watching for an attack.

Well, most of the groups anyway.

"Oh, it's so pretty!"

"This shade of blue would go wonderfully with your eyes."

"I was thinking ivory for the ritual robes…"

"What about lace?"

"Dressing Percy will be the real difficulty, he's so tall…"

"Are you having bridesmaids or will it be a druidic ritual?"

Even in the midsts of disaster wedding planning cannot be put on hold. Not where there are robes to be made.

There was only one robe makers in Hogsmead, and the proprietor had not expected to be overrun by a pack of noisy teenagers trying to find, or design, suitable wedding robes. The scene was chaos and Kingsley Shackelbolt, watching from the relative safety of a corner, was more than a little bit scared.

"It's kinda nuts."

Neville Longbottom, the grandson of the woman who had gotten the aurors posted to Hogwarts in the first place, the furious dementor-destroying source of gold-orange magic. He didn't look capable of doing what he had done, he didn't seem as dangerous as most of the other members of the Hit Squad.

Never judge on appearances.

"I don't get the whole wedding party thing." continued the boy vaguely. "What's the point of spending all that money on a robe that ya' only wear once?"

"It's a special day kid."

"Yeah, but it'd be a special day anyway, so why bother with the clothes?"

It was sort of hard to argue against that point. Hell, it was pretty hard to argue with the kid, period. He had a mix of common sense and obtuse-ness that was seriously off-putting.

"I think it's a woman thing." hazarded Kingsley absently. "They find this sort of thing important."

The boy gave him a disapproving look.

"Don't be sexist."

Kingsley blinked and then blinked again.

"Er, sorry?"

There were probably scarier things than a kid capable of mauling dementors and then still seeming innocent frowning at you, but none sprang to mind.

"Lady Bones is your boss. You should know better."

These kids were just not goddamn normal! What was with them!

"Hades take it do you want the bloody things or not?"

Zabini of the cannibalistic relations appeared to have reached the end of his tether. It was about bloody time someone did.

"It is a simple matter of economics, we cannot afford-"

"There are two lords and multiple rich heirs in the room! You are not picking up the bill! You will not touch the bill! You will not as much as look at the bill! The bill is a non-entity! Forget the bill!"

"…You couldn't have said all that earlier could you?" groused Wood. "Would have saved a lot of time."

"I apologise for overestimating your situational awareness." snipped Zambini, proving his Slytherin-ness once and for all. "I assumed you would pay some degree of attention."

"Dude. Harsh."

"Oh shut up Ronald. They thought they were paying for their own wedding. What kind of people pay for their own wedding anyway?"

There was a long moment of silence as the probably hypothetical question was considered by the majority.

"They pay for their own weddings." mused Greengrass, seemingly perplexed. "Weird."

"Is this a Pureblood thing?" asked Granger of the world as a whole. "Explanation, please."

"No, I am reasonably certain that this is a Dark sider thing." said Miss Bones, her expression one of mild confusion. "Who does pay for the wedding then?"

"Friends, extended family, though no-one closer than a cousin, business or political allies, battle kin, people looking to curry favour with you or your family and anyone who is just scared shitless of you." said Zabini promptly. "But only when you get married the first time, divorcees and the widowed pay for their own weddings."

It was completely unnecessary to ask how he knew that last part.

"I have a question." said Kingsley, slowly raising a hand. "What happens if people don't want you to pay for their wedding?"

"We would be extremely offended." stated Bulstrode, somehow sounding menacing despite her perfectly even tone.

"Well then, we might as well go all out." said Clearwater brightly. "Let's see how much we can spend."

The general chaos resumed immediately.

Kingsley sank back into his corner to ponder this newly revealed aspect of Dark-Pureblood life.

"It's not what you expected, was it?" asked Davis from where she was trying to vanish into a dress rack. "Do not think us to bright and shiny about such things Professor Shackelbolt, many of the old families still practice arranged marriages."

"Way to kill the happy vibes kid."

"One does ones best."

Xxxxxxx

The atmosphere in the Huffelpuff dorms had been interesting since the start of term. The initial anger and denial had turned to acceptance and embarrassment. There was also a certain sense of shame and confused pride.

Bellatrix Lestrange had been one of them. The most feared, most insane and most personally dangerous woman in Wizzarding Britain had been one of them. Voldemort's most loyal servant had been one of them, which should not have been as surprising as it was.

Well, no-one could say that the Huffelpuffs were just a load of duffers anymore. At least, no-one sane.

"Ladies, gentlemen and undetermined, something must be done!" The 7th year prefect had her audience captive from the first over-the-top shout. "A former member of our house has wronged, most grievously wronged a current member! This state of affairs in intolerable!"

There were murmurs of agreement from all over the room. Huffelpuffs stuck together, torturing one another's parents to insanity was just not on.

"I can see only one possible solution, but we must be in agreement on the matter!"

"Your proposal elder sister!"

"Let slip the dogs of war little brother! Lestrange must be neutralised!"

The debate continued well into the night.

Xxxxxxxx

Hogsmead village lay in the valley below them, undefended and fat and ripe for the burning.

Latter, once the others were here to join in the battle and share in the glory. Once they were strong once more.

"We could just-"

Josephine silenced the Norseman with a glare.

"No."

"Just one tiny raid?" asked Trelor pleadingly. "Just to make certain that we are still in practice?"

"And alert the entire Ministry? Don't be a bloody fool!"

"When do we go to Hogwarts?" snapped Carrow across Trelor's sulky mutterings. "When?"

"Information is the basis of any successful attack." said Luke, her beloved, calm, sensible Luke. "We must know more of the defences before we attempt to enter the castle, it would be foolish to assume the protections ha not altered since we attended. What's more we must know our targets, and have a safe place to interrogate them."

Bellatrix laughed lightly, and the really disturbing thing was that she had a pleasant laugh when she wasn't cackling.

"A croaked house upon a croaked hill where in a croaked minded wolf once howled away his moons."

Why did the woman persist in talking in riddles and pure nonsense? The croaked house was easily enough deciphered, but what was this about a wolf?

"The shrieking shake could hardly be called secure."

"Warded well enough to keep the wolf contained is warded well enough to hide for a few hours. Long enough to suffer and break."

Well they did have the Dark Lords best torturer with them after all. Make use of her.

"Recognisance first."

It was unnerving that Bellatrix did not protest. It was slightly more unnerving that she smiled, stepped away and started singing to herself.

"_Sing a song of six pence, not a penny less/ Four and twenty blackbirds make a lot of mess…"_

That was not the nursery rhyme that she remembered, but when you were as insane as Bellatrix it probably mattered little if you made up new ones.

It was time to move on.

Xxxxxxxxx

There was something a little bit hypnotic about watching Indigo design wards. Not quite as fascinating as watching Harry make potions, but a close second.

The fact that he was lying on the sofa with one foot in the small of his own back was also interesting, but considerably less important in Hermione's eyes.

Another rune, Nordic by the look of it but not one that she could name, joined the design and then Indigo when still, propped up on one elbow and tapping the fine paint brush absently against his cheek.

"You are going to get ink all over your face." commented Hermione idly.

"Meh. It wouldn't be the first time."

"Or even the twelfth time." said Tracy, laughing lightly at her blond friend, who waved the brush at her.

"Shush you."

Hermione repressed the urge to twitch at the friendly exchange. Really, this nonsense should have stopped by now. She had been on a single timeline for months now. The effects should have faded.

"What are you working on? It doesn't look like any of the assignments."

"It's not. I'm trying to work out a way to turn ambient magic into a viable substitute for electricity."

"To what purpose?"

"Working computers, television and I-pods. And Google of course. We need Google."

"My, what glorious aims you have. And you would also need a way to transmit and receive signals for the T.V and the internet to work."

"Magic doesn't scramble signals Mia." said Tracy gently. "Just electricity. For some reason it doesn't flow within fields of high magical concentration."

"Oh, and I had thought that the wizzarding world had jumped of the technology bandwagon in the Victorian era just to be difficult."

"No darling, we just got distracted by the corsetry."

Tracy's deadpan statement startled a laugh from Hermione, and the smile that spread across her friends face in response was radiant. Beautiful.

Hermione gave herself a mental smack.

"Corsetry?"

"Never before had we seen such an inspired use of dragon's bone. It was most impressive, and still is."

"Both of my grandmothers have corsets." said Indigo mildly. "And normally I wouldn't care, but Mel wants me to cross dress and they look painful."

"Mel?"

"Melody Black."

"Melosanyerasi di Lucifer." Indigo shrugged at Hermione's incredulous stare. "They like long names where she's from. It's a thing."

"Normally I would enquire about the Lucifer part, but I sense that I don't really want to know. Can electricity be generated within a magical field?"

"No, generators just don't work for some reason."

"In-ter-es-ting." Hermione frowned into space. "Perhaps a disruption of the magnetic field? But that would not explain the blocked electron flow within the wires. Perhaps a free flowing positive/negative charge in the air generated by the interaction of magic and water vapour? It could disperse the current…"

The two purebloods stared at her as though she had grown an extra head.

"You have absolutely no idea what I just said, do you?"

"Not a clue." said Tracy. "Tell us more."

"Well, water in the liquid form is actually a very mild acid as there is partial disassociation into H+ and OH- and that can carry and electrical charge. It the magic were to create such molecules in the air…"

Their fascinated expressions were pleasing for some reason. Maybe this was why people taught?

Xxxxxxxxxx

"'sup man?"

"Eek!"

Ron paused, and gave Harry an incredulous look.

"Again? Harry you seriously need to pay more attention to your surroundings. I should not be able to sneak up on you, like, even. It ain't natural."

"You may have a point." Harry smiled ruefully. "It is starting to look alarmingly like a habit."

"No kidding." drawled Ron, settling against the railing beside his friend. "So come on, what's up? You ain't normally this spaced."

"I was talking to Luna earlier."

"That's a good reason to feel spaced. What did our confusing seer girl have to say?"

"Little that was definite." Harry rubbed his forehead and waved Ron closer, placing the Marauders map between them. "The Death Eaters _are_ coming here, and Luna implied that they would enter together but not _where_ they would enter. There are simply too many passages, and probably some more that we don't know about, there just aren't enough people to cover them all adequately."

Ron huffed and glowered at the map.

"Can we get the aurors to help?"

"My assumption was that we would. We are, after all, still children and somewhat lacking in weaponry and experience of magical battles."

Ron paused, and an expression of vague disgust spread across his face.

"Harry, please tell me we are not getting other people to fight our battles for us."

"We are making people do their jobs and teaching them a valuable lesson about putting the fate of the world in the hands of children in the process. It is not our duty to clear up their messes."

"We've done it before."

"Yes, and that, in hindsight, was unwise. It set a precedence that now works against us."

"Dude, we can handle-"

"Do you consider the Hit Squad battle ready Ronald?"

"Er…" Ron wilted slightly under the stare. "No."

"Then stop arguing with me." Harry returned his attention to the map. "What idiot made all these thrice damned passages?"

"A very, very board one." Ron did his best to sound solemn. "Probably a Gryffindor. Cheer up, we don't know when they're coming, it could be after the end of term and not our problem."

Harry gave him a look.

"Happy thoughts man! Try out optimism once in a while!"

The look became a Look and gained the unspoken suggestion that Ron had gone potty while Harry wasn't paying attention and really that was no way to behave.

"Oh fine. Gloomy bastard."

"I prefer realist. Our lives simply do not work like that."

Ron huffed, and then looked thoughtful for a moment.

"No Ronald, you may not petition the goddess to swing things in our favour. Se has no influence on our karma and would probably refuse anyway."

"Mean… Does it bother you that we just had a conversation based mostly on body language?"

Harry shrugged helplessly. Ron nodded.

"Yeah, it was always gonna hap- Goddamn it! Not cool!"

"What did I say?"

* * *

Next time: Battle


	12. Chapter 12

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

Authors note: Er, yeah, long damn time since the last update. Sorry. -headddesks- I have exams, and writters block, and plot bunnies for other stories and its all been a bit, squiffy. Forgive me?

Misting Rain: Thanks, sorry about the wait.

moonlightskymist: The bonds are less important now as none of them are fuele by mojo.

HolySinner: He'll get his comupence -does anyone say that anymore?- in due time.

Firehegehog: Weding planning=mayhem and rage. Take it from someone with two married cousins.

ChaosBabe: Firmly maybe pushing it a bit but, yeah. They're in trouble.

animegirl1994: Cheers!

Sandy Anderson: Have you been reading/watching Rurouni Kenshi?

FallenHope-Angel: He is. Neville is just a teddy bear sometimes.

* * *

Battle, part 1

"To come at the moonrise, the dark ones, the mad ones. Hunters in the night, seekers after knowledge. I see the warriors of earth and sky. I see the kin of shadow and flame. I see Dream. I see death."

As places to give a prophecy went the DADA class was probably a pretty good selection in terms of making an impact. However, as Luna still collapse after giving these predictions it was unfortunate that the class room had a bare stone floor.

Fortunately for her Colin had good reflexes and a vested interest in Luna not cracking her skull.

"Oh, crack bunnies." muttered Kingsley, rubbing his face with his hands. "Mutilated crack bunnies on speed. Dismissed. Someone take her to the Hospital wing. I hate prophecies…"

His students stared at him. He glared at them in return.

"You are dismissed, children. That means you buggar off and do whatever it is you do when you aren't bothering me."

"Well that was articulate." snipped Ginny, and flounced of to spread the word.

Her Harry would want to know about this.

Xxxxxxxx

"It's time to go."

The Death Eaters perked up at their leaders' announcement. Finally, finally they were doing something.

"A moment please."

They glared at Dag Svenson, an the Norseman, who was bent over what looked like the braided remains of a cutain, ignored them completely.

His large hands delicately shaped a symbol on the frayed velvet, there was a since of cold-fire and the former curtain gained an eyrie dark-white luminescence around the edges.

Dag took the carefully knotted handle and flicked his creation at a wall. He grinned at the long slit it left in the plaster.

"Now I am ready!"

The dark streets offered no resistance, and the owner of Honeydukes, woken by the wards around his shop, fell to a simple blasting hex that sent grey matter spattered over half the sweet shop.

This did not stop the Death Eaters grabbing some of their favourite sweets on the way down to the passage. Years in Azkaban tended to desensitise you to the horror of mysterious gunk in ones food, and chocolate was, chocolate. A little bit of healthy human brain was really no deterrent.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The students had been ordered to remain in their house dorms while the teachers an aurors saw to the defence of the castle. Naturally quite a number of said students intended to disregard those orders completely. They were teenagers after all. Disobediance and thrill seeking was only to be expected.

At opposite ends of the castle too very different discussions were taking place, as the sensible people tried to make their housemates be logical. One involved screaming and spellfire, the other consisted of icy words and softly poisonous stares. The locations of these arguments would surprise quite a lot of people.

This is because most people are stupid and this is because it is illegal to kill idiots and now the gene pool needs chlorine. One day it will get it.

Xxxxxxxxx

The aurors were nervous, which was reasonable. Some of them were whining about this, which was understandable, but also unacceptable. They we're aurors damnit, they did not whine.

"-and why are we in threes when there are seven of them?"

"Shut up Pratt."

"But-"

"Shut. Up. Pratt."

"Actually, he has a point." said a voice from behind a statue of a hunchbacked witch. "Why are there only three of you?"

The aurors jumped. One bolted to trip the alarms and the other two shot stunners at the shadows. The light of the shield spell showed five evil grins and Josephine banging her head against her husband's shoulder.

"We were supposed to do this quietly! We were supposed to avoid notice for as long as possible! We had a plan! What happened to the plan?"

"There there. Have a chocolate frog."

She accepted the frog, bit its head off an sucked its anatomically correct guts out before aiming a blasting hex, and the whiny aurors chest gained an interesting new hole.

"I feel better now."

Dag Svenson and Bellatrix Lestrange unleashed twin maniacal laughs an advanced on the remaining aurors with raised wands and gleaming eyes.

They had spent entirely to long controlled and quiet an behaving themselves and bored. Now it was time to _play_.

Xxxxxxx

At certain areas of the castle a number of people heard the alarms and reacted accordingly. The spells that no-one would ever admit to casting sealed a number of doors and passages. A number of people started swearing upon discovering that they were locked in, and a far, far smaller number of people headed towards the source of the noise.

Fingers were absently trailed along the walls, and the long dormant soul of Hogwarts stirred uneasily in its shell.

Repression spells fought with defensive programming, and faltered just long enough for the castle to create a lockdown before slipping back into uneasy sleep. Be it for good or ill the castles many passages were closed and neither love nor hellfire would get you in or out of the dorms or offices now.

Unaware of this ten aurors and eight students went to join the fight.

Xxxxxxxxx

There are many things that one could, with total accuracy, call a Death Eater, but 'bad fighter' was not one of them and the seven escapees were quite capable of holding their own against the aurors stationed at Hogwarts. In fact the law enforcers were getting their arses handed to them, mostly because of an unfortunate tenancy to underestimate Dags curtain-whip.

"Whoo-hoo! Big shout out to our homies in the psyco possie!" The distinctive sound of someone being smacked around the head sounded loud in the suddenly silent corridor. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Ron, even I think that you deserved that." Said Harry, approaching from the opposite direction and stooping to close the long slices a cutting hex had left in an aurors chest. "It was just, well…"

"Inaccurate." snipped Luke, raiding his chin haughtily. "Only two of us can be proven to be insane. Really, psyco indeed." He sniffed and turned to his wife. "The education of children these days."

"Is that a Slytherin thing?" asked Ron, tilting his head and smirking. "It seems like a Slytherin thing."

"It isn't." chorused Millicent an Indigo, pinning him with identical evil glares.

Bellatrix peered at them, and then smiled radiantly.

"Mine nephew, hello. Have you been good since I saw you last?"

The aurors shifted uneasily, several training their wands on the two young Slytherins in expectation of a new threat. Millicent gave them a look of pure and unadulterated scorn in response.

"Bitch, please. I don't do good." Indigo sounded offended at the very suggestion. "Who do you take me for, her?" An auror went slightly cross eyed when the finger landed on her. "I do plotting and chaos and that, mine aunt, is a hell of a lot more fun."

She laughed, rich and clear and suddenly sounding terribly sane.

"Oh poppet, you are defiantly of my blood. I'm delighted." She smiled, her lavender eyes sparkling joyously. "Have you come to kill me?"

"Alas, no. Neville called dibs on you and, well, I think he bites…"

Bellatrix sighed deeply and pursed her mouth as though sorely disappointed.

"My poppet, you really must not let these people control you. It's not sanitary."

"I'm sorry auntie, but I think he has rabies…"

"I do not!"

Neville scowled, and the purple eyed duo looked at him with varying degrees of amusement and affection.

"Well, this is creepy and I am actually quite disturbed." commented Dag, his tone slightly plaintive. "Could we go back to fighting, please?"

Susan took a shot at Luke in answer and Neville walked towards the people who had driven his mother insane, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

The battle recommenced. An auror fell and was dragged to Harry by Tracy, Ron danced around Dag, Indigo and Millicent tag teamed Carrow and Hermione slid behind a suit of armour and quietly taught people some very important lessons about pointing weapons at her best friend. The fight could have continue in this manner, had Dag not torn a hole in the line of aurors with his runewhip and completely discredited his house by making a break for it. Ron charged after him and Millicent, laying foul curses upon Gryffindors in general and Ron in particular, followed.

"No dragging them into dark closets Dag! They're only kiddies!" The running trio paused to give the insane woman looks of shocked disgust before vanishing around a corner. "They are going to get molested. I just know it. Dag has no self control." Bellatrix twirled away from Neville, gutted an auror and wailed. "I don't want that on my conscience!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." called Harry. "Millicent is quite capable of destroying anyone who touches her inappropriately. Your companion may be in danger of castration. Or death. Probably death, actually."

"Millie's not allowed to talk to strange men anymore." stated Indigo, tone disturbingly frank for someone who'd lost his wand to a misplaced expelliarmus and gained a pike in its place. "We're running out of places to hide the bodies."

An auror whimpered as Harry repaired a hole in his shoulder.

"I can't tell if he's joking or not! Why can I tell if he's joking or not?"

"Why ever would he joke about something like that?"

The auror whimpered again and for a moment five Death Eaters and four teenagers wore identical smirks of half malicious amusement. Then someone exploded a suit of armour and they got back to the business of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Xxxxxxxx

A long time ago Shararazard had gone to his mother and tol her that when he got angry, really, really angry, he could hear drums in his head, beating out a war dance. She had smiled, told him that it was alright and promise to explain why when he was older but he never reached the older she had been talking about. Goku had never heard them, and the Great Sage lived to the raging beat.

The Lestrange survivors stood before him, those who had driven his parents mad and left his grandmother sad an alone and crying in the night when she thought no-one would hear her. The drums pounded though his head, demanding their suffering and he hated them, him for living and her all the more that she looke like his once and always brother.

There were other people around them, but they weren't important that the others would deal with them. The Lestrange's were his to kill.

Empty grey eyes shifted to him, then focused and narrowed.

"You killed my brother." One of the meaningless figures fell though the air between them and Bellatrix laughed. "You will pay for that boy. I shall have my pound of flesh."

Confident confident and over confident at that. Neville kicked off his shoes, raised his wand and beckoned the man on, feeling a smile to sharp to be his curl across his lips.

"Come and get it, if you think you can."

* * *

Next time: The Battle, part 2


	13. Chapter 13

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

Misting Rain; No, Bellatrixs has lavender eyes remember?

Firehedgehog; Fun? Bleep no man, the writters block kicked my ass. Epicly.

lordamnesia; Cheers.

Sandy Anderson: Yes, crackbunnies. And why hid my women and children, they're the most dangerous people in the place!

anmiegirl1994: Cheers.

Athina Dark-Angel of Death: Cheers

* * *

The Battle, part 2

Ron always found it a bit disorientating when he met a girl who could match him in hand to hand combat. He wasn't sexist, or at least no one had ever said he was, and he knew that girls were just and strong and smart, and just a weak and stupid, as boys and Yuki Susan and Hermione were a pretty good match for Harry and Indigo in the scary stakes. There was just something about seeing a girl take a hit without flinching that sent off little 'does not compute' messages in his head.

Dag Svenson had a whip in one hand and his wand in the other and while Ron did his best to not get cut in half Millicent was laying an epic smack down and brushing off the few hits the huge blond did manage to land, mostly kicks, like they were nothing. It was kind of confusing.

Her style was also confusing. It was a weird blend of Neville's brute force, Hermione's weird but efficient spell combo's, Susan's doge and blast and Harrys 'I need you to suffer and killing you is not enough' all tied together with a brutal practicality that took normal conventions about scratching, biting and shots to the privets and kicked them out of a window and into a hole with spikes at the bottom.

It was very, very scary and kind of sexy in a way thirteen year olds should not be and altogether incredibly distracting, which was kind of unfortunate all things considered.

Millie smacked Svenson in the ear and ducked around a hex of some variety to hit him in the hip with a spell Ron was pretty sure he'd seen his mother use to mash potatoes but left the Norseman stumbling backwards with a pained expression.

Ron was also pretty sure that he had made an indecent noise at this point, but he was too busy trying to cut the rune whip in half to worry too much about that.

There was a small explosion as the magic collided.

"Ron." purred Millicent, eyes narrowed dangerously. "That is a rune whip. They are rare, and useful and I want one. If you break it I shall be most displeased."

"Reading you loud and clear ma'm."

"You know about rune whips." murmured Dag. "How?"

Millicent smiled a smile full of impending doom.

"Hagall at my right hand, Naudr at my left, Hel is our mistress and we do her bidding 'till the Dream take the worlds."

Svenson's eyes widened from a moment and he whispered a word that seemed to contain entirely too many constantans. It widened Millicent's smile.

"Grandmothers blood runs strong in me."

There was a moment of silence as Ron stewed in confusion and the two Dark siders eyeballed each other. Then Dag laughed delightedly.

"Ah marvellous! Wonderful! What better fight could I ask for?"

The rune whip snaked towards Millie's face, she cast a rune and Ron moved to deflect the weapon and the corridor flicked as though someone had absently minded switched the moon off for a moment.

There was a thing, Ron moved closer for a better look and found himself falling into the technicolor black, with Millicent's swearing following him all the way up.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Millicent Bulstrode, Slytherin, Hit Squad member and third generation servant of the Netherworlds dark queen rubbed her temples and swore to herself for a while.

Men and Gryffindors. Or rather male Gryffindors, from the looks of things. They created a portal to the Nether world and then moved towards it. How was it even possible to be that stupid and live? Male bloody Gryffindors. It was the combination, it had to be. Hermione would never approach a mysterious something, and even Neville was bright enough to step sharply backwards when faced with a light consuming orange hole in the world.

Male Gryffindors. Damn them.

She raised her head to find a thing with knives for fingers standing over her with a faintly bemused expression on its joints. A portal into Dream them, and Nightmares coming though. It was almost depressing how unsurprising that was. She swore at it a bit and ripped the portal shut as the Nightmares scooted away From her. The others could deal with them. This wasn't there place and at least a third of the school was more inclined to attack things that scared them than scream and panic, and even if they escaped unharmed there were the dementors to contend with.

A fight between a dementor and a Nightmare would be a thing to see, preferably from a distance, and a large distance at that.

She pressed her thumbs to her lips, let herself go still and sketched a forgotten rune onto the air.

"Two of the mortal realm have passed into the Uncertain World. I petition that they be returned.

There was silence, and then the corridor darkened and there was a brush of death chilled hands across her shoulders as one of Deaths servants came to answer.

"_We shall see, bright daughter_."

Milliecent breathed again as the presence departed, sank to the floor and bit down upon her own knuckle until life hot blood hit her tongue. The vaskrkry, the dark cousins of the valkyrie, the ones that a dozen cultures had called Death, Hel's servants, her grandmothers people. Her people. She had called them and they, for the sake of her grandmother's blood, had answered.

The stillness of them settled to easily in her veins, she had almost forgotten. The life-heat-movement of the Hit Squad had made it too easy to push it back and forget it was there.

She spat her own blood on the floor, bit again and let the iron warmth of mortal drive back the cold.

Xxxxxxxxx

Carrow, whose given name eluded him right now if he had ever known it at all, was a reasonably good fighter in terms of straight magic but his reaction speed left much to be desired and altogether Indigo was rather unimpressed. The fight would be more interesting if the aurors, who were even more unimpressive than Carrow, would butt out and let him play but since his wand was off somewhere he probably shouldn't grumble too much about the help.

What he would grumble about was the auror, who could not aim worth shirt, hitting him with an expelliarmus and walking off with his bloody wand, to Harry. Since no-one stupid enough to mistake a adult prison escapee for a thirteen year old boy could possibly go through a mêlée without getting at least a bit broken Harry probably find his wand, and inflict some sort of vengeance on the muppet who'd hexed him while he was dodging.

Mind you, he should have been holding onto it better and the pike wasn't bad as a substitute weapon, though he was missing his gun.

Spells channelled though a gun? Something to consider, they needed proper weapons anyway.

Carrow tossed a stunner at him. Indigo flipped to dodge that and a stay cutting curse, landed in a couch, knocked the man off his feet with the pike and twirled it to bring the bronze capped butt down on his stomach. It made the man wheeze in a satisfying sort of way.

Guns were still better, but he had dropped some chocolate frogs so, hey, score.

The aurors were backing away from something, which was an irritating sort of thing for the supposed defenders of the wizzarding world to do. They were supposed to protect for someone's sake.

The chocolate frog made a bid for escape, and then quivered until he bit it's head off. It was a very twisted mind that had decided to animate candy. The pike was heavy, but the sugar helped.

Indigo eyed the things that were drifting onto the battlefield and thoughtfully sucked the frogs guts out as he tried to think around the drum beat in Neville's head.

They obviously weren't human, as was made obvious but half of them being completely the wrong shape. Magical constructs had no form of consciousness and who had the time to make golems now? And way in those shapes? There was no emotion, but he could feel a form of alien intelligence and a honeycomb tang of minds connected and oddly structured. Minds within minds? Mind Beside minds? The imprints of minds on an entirely different consciousness? The felt like razors in candyfloss and they carried notes of rest and memory, of Ron and Millie.

Huh. Interesting. How the hell had this happened?

"Nightmares." The things stopped advancing to stare at him, and the aurors stopped panicking to listen. "Constructs of sleeping minds, given a stable-ish form in a dream realm. Given that Svenson ran off that way their probably from the River Dream that the old Norse sages found, I suspect there was an accident with that whip of his and these got though." And what had gone though the other way? Ron was unlikely to react calmly when faced with a gang of Nightmares and Millie was hardly the most comforting person in the world, but there was no panicking redhead to be seen. "This should be interesting. Which one of you dipshits has my wand?"

A twist of guilt from the moron, stilled when they took a spell between the shoulder blades and replaced by bright red pain flowers. Susan was infuriating a Rockwood, the spell had missed her.

A little situational awareness, anyone?

Shackelbolts decision to return his wand was nice. Carrows decision that killing the Nightmares took priority over killing the aurors was better, Death Eaters were useful people to have on your side, even if they were over estimated, even if he wasn't the one Indio wanted.

"Magic work on these things?"

Stupid question.

"No Carrow, I want my wand back so I can cuddle it." Carrow glowed half amused irritation. "Go and fetch my aunt."

Shackelbolt stiffened, buzzing his suspicion, but returned his wand anyway. Was that trust? Gosh.

"Yes, my lord, will there be anything else?"

Point one for Death Eaters, they had the capacity for sarcasm under stress.

"Depends Carrow, do you have any unanimated candy?"

He gave some posturing grumbling, but handed over a few bars of Honeydukes finest before going to do his bidding. The man worried him, there was something coiled under the surface, something leashed but strong and blazing to break loose and laugh until his throat bled. And Carrow, for some unfathomable reason, liked him.

Indigo wasn't sure what that said about him as a person, but it probably wasn't a good thing.

The Nightmares edged forwards a little, that alien intelligence assessing him. Neville raged from somewhere behind him and the vibrant song madness of Bellatrix began dancing towards them. The other Lestrange and Neville would follow her in time.

Nightmares, somewhere between ten and twenty of them as close as he could guess, vs two or three Death Eaters, five aurors, him and his furious once was brother. There would be fighting within the group but that was still a pretty good force.

The drum beat of Nevilles rage echoed in his head, the Nightmares moved closer again and a clown pranced forwards, all manic smile and twitchy hands.

Indigo disliked clowns. You could look straight at them and still not know what their faces looked like. Indigo was still holding a pike and the war drums called for blood and death and these things were on his turf now and they'd play by is rules and by his rules they would die.

A pike was more or less the same shaped as a glaive wasn't it?

"_I am the clown with the tear away face_…" How did the song go again?

A step, a swing to open the chest, another to cut the throat and dream things shouldn't leave corpses behind now should they? The blood, arterial spray was a bitch, struck across his face and remained.

Scarlet on white. Someone had a taste for slasher films.

"Ooh! Nightmares! And it's not even my birthday!"

Bellatrix Lestrange, and Carrow lurking behind her. Bright edged dark dancing song mad Bellatrix. It was almost a shame that Neville was going to kill her, but that was what torturers got for being torturers.

"Don't say I never gave you anything nice auntie."

She laughed with a free, wild joy that reminded him of Neville.

"You are scaring the monsters." said Shakelbolt mildly.

They were scaring him, but Auror Shakelbolt was stronger that the other aurors. He did not run from anything.

"It's what we do babes." Bellatrix laughed again. "I bagsie the scissors!"

The figure made of blades looked as worried as a figure made of blades could. The alien intelligence was intelligent after all, it knew danger when it came laughing.

"How lovely." A walking scarecrow flinched. "Hey flammable."

This probably shouldn't be as fun as it was.

Xxxxxxxxx

The young Miss Bones was proving to be an able opponent. Given time she might become the equal of her lady aunt, for she had already moved passed the flaws that ha lead to her parents deaths.

Luke felt vaguely proud of the girl as she danced back to let an auror pummel his shields, carefully defending the older woman from the spells that escaped Trelor's trio of attackers as she did so. It was so good to see someone who understood the value of teamwork.

He stepped back, touched Josephine's wrist and blasted one of her attackers back towards the clear space where Potter saw to the wounded while she strengthened the shield and cut the legs from under one of Trelors attackers.

If the man survived he would need prosthetics, unless Potter could re-attach limbs…

It was not enough to save the younger man, he crumpled after taking a stunner in the chest but he had always been the weakest of them, and he had done well to last this far.

Trelor down and Svenson gone goodness knew where, but the Lestranges' were still going strong and Carrow fought at Bellatrix's side. Of the original fourteen aurors nine, at the very most, could still fight with the rest dead on unconscious. Of the eight surprisingly dangerous children two had gone after Dag, three were seeing to the wounded and of the three still fighting Longbottom was damaging the aurors as much as he damaged Rodolfus and Malfoy seemed to have found more entertaining quarry to occupy his attention.

Nightmares had been mentioned. A statement of questionable accuracy, but who could say what might be cat against them. Dumbledore may not have come in person, but he had many unusual resources to throw at them.

Josephine sent the Bones girl flying with a hex she so nearly blocked, and they dealt with the last of the aurors while her friends saw to her health.

There were spells that would force the children to explain the method by which the dementors had been driven back. One of Potters healer helpers had the sharp eyes of Edmund Davis and the mahogany hair of his lady wife, and had the newspaper not mentioned that a Tracy Davis was involved? The children were just children, no matter their unexpected skills and their allies were moving steadily away as they drove the new threat back.

"Enivate." murmured Luke, locking eyes with the guard girl with the frizzy hair as he dragged Trelor back to the waking world. "We wish to know how the dementors where driven out. Give us the information we desire and we shall withdraw and you will not be harmed."

The guard girl tilted her head slightly, her honey coloured eyes showing a disquieting amount of calm.

"You are underestimating us. That is extremely unwise." She smiled slightly. "Surrender or withdraw now, and you will not be harmed."

A big shadowy thing broke form the larger fight and charged towards them.

"Don't tread on my patients!"

It disintegrated under the orb of slightly greenish light Potter hurled at it. The boy had not used a wand, and Josephine whispered a curse.

The guard girl's smile widened slightly as Potter fumed behind her and Bones cast a spell that Luke recognised as an auror call for back up. She looked down right malicious now.

"Pardon me, I must correct myself. You will not be harmed much."

Xxxxxxxxxx

The vaskrky had, for the most part, very little interest in the living. Sometimes a breather might do something entertaining, and sometimes there were dalliances but such connections were rarely meaningful and the effects mortals had on their own realm was really none of their business, and when the living got stuck in the Riven Dream it was really their own fault.

But al child of their blood, one of the rare offspring of one of their own and a mortal man, had requested that these two odd breathers that had stranded themselves in Dream be returned, and one of them had already proven himself to be, interesting. Anyone who could tear themselves from a nightmare's grasp and create a point of stability in the Dream was a person to be observed carefully, and the youths chosen kin...

The smoke song girl and her metal and paper beloved. The boy who burned though a Nightmare with a gleam of his own soul. The boy with the world's heart beat in his head and his brother dancing on the edge of a dark blade. The girl, the strange unnatural breather girl who had seen though the veil at the world's edge and saw them.

They were the vaskrky and were, for the most part, not interested in the living. They dealt with those trapped between the planes and brought them to their Lady's arms, they maintained order in the realm of the dead and they rarely took any interest in the realm of the living.

But these breathers had potential, these were interesting and two fools lost in the Dream were not too high a price to pay for such entertainment as these would provide.

Xxxxxxxxx

Kingsley Shakelbolt was not flighty, he was not given to panic or fits of temper, he was not unbalanced in mind or heart and he was not religious. He was a sensible, practical man with a firm grounding in reality and a long held belief that any super powers that may or may not talk to dead people were absolutely not his problem.

Then Longbottom hurled Lestrange down a three story drop by shifting the stone floor and Bellatrix spread wings made of blackened light to save him and Malfoy danced barefoot on railings with a Nightmares blood shinning ruby bright on his pale skin.

Kingsley Shakelbolt was a sensible and practical man with a firm grounding in reality that was informing him, in no uncertain terms, that the super powers did not hang out with dead people. They walked in human form and reshaped building with a gesture and sang along to the music in their heads and high jacked harpies so they wouldn't have to take the stairs and hunted down Lestranges for reasons that probably made sense to them.

The Nightmares that hadn't chased the scary people to the ground floor were dead, he had three aurors that were still in any shape to fight and Carrow was leaning against a wall with a dislocated shoulder and a odd, dreamy expression on his face. Kingsley would like the world to stare making sense again, please.

"You," he hesitated for a moment, still pointing at Carrow as he dredged up the words. "are under arrest."

The man stared blankly at him for a moment and then started laughing.

A few minutes ago this man had blocked a Nightmare who was trying to take Kingsleys head off. Moments after that Kingsley had prevented Carrow being gutted by a stay spell from the completely out of control Lestrange-Longbottom fight. And now he was arresting him.

He was a second away from hysterics when Dag Svenson and Ronald Weasley dropped out of thin air. Svenson was hugging a jar full of eyeballs and Weasley was brandishing what was either a really unfortunately shaped oversized lollipop or a three foot long dildo on a stick.

"Are you secure enough in your masculinity to take a bite out of this?"

Svenson shrieked, dropped his jar of eyeballs and scrambled away from the phallus that had been brandished at him by the rather wild looking Weasley. He wiggled into an alcove and curled up in a ball whimpering to himself.

The jar rolled to a stop at Kingsleys feet, and one of the eyeballs winked at him. The way Weasley was giggling was still creepier though.

"Shakelbolt. Miss Bones is calling for back up."

Right, yes. Still a few Death Munchers in the castle who weren't going laughing like loonys or fighting terrifying children or having panic attacks. Had to be dealt with.

"Okay you, secure them. You, see to the wounded. You," Weasley went cross eyed for a moment before managing to focus. "stop laughing like that, it's creepy."

"Why, why whywhwhy, am I holding a giant chocolate dildo?"

Kingsley hesitated for a moment and decided there and then to dodge the issue.

"Because you haven't put it down yet. You, with me."

Kingsley headed towards the other, hopefully more normal, fight, privately swearing to never, ever set foot in Hogwarts again.

"Uh, sir? What about the Lestranges and the children?"

He eyeballed Auror Bent to the best of his ability.

"Did you see those four fight?"

"Uh, yes sir."

"Do you think you can keep up with them?"

"Uh, no sir."

"Then why are you asking me such stupid questions Auror Bent?"

"I think I'm in shock sir. Sorry sir."

Carrow and Weasleys laughter followed them away.

Xxxxxx

Once upon a time there was a little girl who grew up strong and wild and lost a fight that mattered.

Once upon a time there was a young woman who knew what shape the world should be and set out to make it so.

Once upon a time there was a woman who save the world differently from others and knew who she was and what she did and then carried on anyway.

Once upon a time there was a sister who woke screaming from a nightmare and she had never forgiven that which had frightened her sibling so because they were her kin and her kitties and the only one who was allowed to send them into screaming panic was her. It was nice to take vengeance at last, they had touched something that was hers and they really had to suffer for it.

Bellatrix cut a demonic bear thing in half, twirled to avoid an earth spike, ducked under a stray spell and danced. Her nephew was dancing as well, stomping out some wild, restless beat on the dry grass as he wove fire around a lizard person thing. A good child, defiantly of her blood.

No Nightmares left now. A pity, they were fun to kill.

The ground rippled under her feet and she bounced away, tossing hexes over her shoulder towards Longbottom. Wild eyed and gold dusted and moving to the battles beat. Ah, a sweet boy a lovely boy, he should have been of her blood as well.

Cissas son moved to fight Rodolfus, drawing him away in a twist of spell fire and flame while baby Longbottom tore after her. All anger and brute force and earth. All that strength, all that beautiful rage and used with so little direction.

"Focus Babyboo, a hammer is only any good if you hit someone with it."

Babyboo paused for a moment and then fought smart.

All that power and all that rage and Alice's steel plated stare. Her feet caught on the earth as though sunk into stone and raging eyes fixed upon her, the only gold in a silvered world.

Bellatrix raised her stolen wand and was not particularly surprised when a pebble hurled itself though the air to knock it from her hand as the earth crawled up her form.

Did he mean to crush her to death? Messy. She approved.

He raised a hand, then crumpled as ruby light hit him between the shoulder blades and the world lit up as Cissa's son hurt her brother in law. Rodolfus was twitching wildly as the lighting coursed from her nephew's fingertips.

It was actually rather pretty and Bellatrix took a moment to admire it before casting a stunner to get the boys attention.

Wide eyed and pale, he had ridden another's fury this far and it's loss left him tense and trembling. Her nephew. Her own image in a warped mirror.

Bellatrix smiled at him and pointed her now reclaimed wand at Longbottoms prone form.

"I could kill him, nephew mine, what will you give me not to?"

A croaked smile and a curt gesture towards her slightly smoking companion.

"I offer one Death Eater, lightly charred but probably still functional."

"Then we have an accord."

Xxxxxxxxx

The world was dark and full of bleh. Neville moaned and tried to sink into the ground.

"Open your bloody eyes monkey!"

Indigo was leaving over him, a gleam of concern inspired pissed off-ness in his eyes.

"Wazzit?"

"How many figures am I holding up?"

"Muh, four?"

Indigo swore softly and started tracing runes into the air.

"Try to stay awake, your wand is in your pocket."

"Wha' 'bout tha' 'Stanges?"

"I'll see if I can catch up with them, if not the dementors can handle it." A ward snapped into place, warming the ground beneath Neville's cheek. "Scream if one of our side come along, you're hidden so you'll have to catch their attention."

"'kay."

Indigo gave him a last glance and bolted. Neville just lay there and tried to convince the moon to stop wiggling.

Xxxxxxxx

It was a terrible thing to find that the forces of darkness could not face down four children and a pair of aurors. They had been doing so well earlier, but now something seemed to have tossed them completely off balance. It was, disappointing.

Harry blocked a hex of some variety and returned fire with a curse of his own which Lord Rockwood just scrambled to avoid, proving both his reaction speed and his rather inept fighting style once separated from his wife.

Lady Rockwood was fighting two aurors and Susan, and while she was giving ground it was in the composed manner of one who has decided to make a strategic withdrawal rather than the frantic fumbling of her husband as he pulled away from the threat to his continued existence. This was made all the more impressive by the fact that she was retreating backwards down a staircase while casting at three sources of attacks and avoiding the vanishing steps.

Harry would have liked to fight her instead, but that would have left Lord Rockwood with no opponent, and Hermione and Tracy were entirely too occupied with Mr Trelor to take over.

Hermione's response to the man's attack on Tracy could easily be considered excessive. To quote Ron, they should really just kiss already. Perhaps they would bond over combat?

Trelor howled as Hermione, expressed her displeasure, and the Rockwoods finally broke and ran.

Harry paused for a moment to check everyone for imageries and was distracted by the serene manner in which Professor Shakelbolt went to Mr Trelor's rescue. His calm was most admirable.

"I believe it may be best to follow them, if only to ensure that they do not remain within the castle."

"Sir." snapped Susan, nodding briskly. "Professor, see to Trelor, you, sit down, you're spent. Hermione," she hesitated, considering the bookworms death grip on her wand worriedly. "do you need a calming draft?"

"No thank you."

"Then we had best get on." Harry stretched out his senses, reaching for the Death Eaters chi, trying to filter out the distracting buzz of Hogwarts. "I suspect that they will head out into the grounds. We should hurry."

Xxxxxxxxx

The sky was on fire when they reached the grounds.

Harry swore very softly and Tracy tried to remember the last time she had heard him do so. It must have been some time ago, if such an event had ever occurred.

"Hey!"

"Neville has survived then." murmured Susan, her smile belaying her curt tone as she peeled off to find her house mate. "Take care."

"You too." said Hermione, eyeing the fire grimly.

The flames burned a blue so deep it was almost black, and there was a steaming frost where the fire cut off abruptly, fast vanishing as the dementors burned away.

She looked at Harry. His eyes reflected the not quite light of the flames and his face was disquietingly blank.

This vast fire was of Indigo's power, and Indigo would be at the heart of this tightly leashed circle of flame that he had created, but being the source of the fire did not mean that it would not hurt him, and Harry realised that.

The precise nature of Harry and Indigo's connection was not something that Tracy had ever considered too carefully. They were close friends, tied together by a depth of understanding and unspoken trust. She had no idea if they were, as Hannah suspected and Ron often joked, in love but there could be no doubt that the two boys would bleed for each other if it was needed.

She reached out and took Hermione's hand.

"Tracy, I must ask you to deal with any dementors that have survived."

Harry closed his eyes, raised his hands to the dementor induced clouds and breathed deeply, and what looked like half the lake crashed onto the flames.

Indigo bent under the weight of the water, a shade behind the flames, and crumpled bonelessly to the drenched, scorched earth as the fire died.

The few dememtors that were still functional swooped towards them, and it was left to Hermione to catch their green eyed lieutenant as he fell.

Xxxxxxxx

Albus Dumbledore was swearing when the door of his office finally, finally unsealed so that he could leave.

The Death Eaters had come as predicted and the damn castle had destroyed his chances of uding that attack when it locked him, and everyone one else pox it, in their damn rooms.

Merlin damn the thing!

No. Calm, he must be calm. He could salvage this situation. He could make this work to his advantage. He could.

Dumbledore took a deep breath, and went to find out how big a mess had been made of his school.

Multiple brands of unpleasantness


	14. Chapter 14

Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.

lordamnesia: He is past freak outable and never shall panic again.

Firehedgehog:Little bit.

FallenHope-Angel: Really? I made them up a bit on the fly, needed more baddies, and I wasn't sure they worked.

Umei no Mai: Thank you

Sandy Anderson: Yup. No idea where he's from, I don't know enough about scandinavia to pick a country, so its sweaden if you want it to be.

Aslook: Look, and update!

* * *

Dangerous cuteness and engagement by democracy

Madame Amelia Bones, Chief Auror, acting head of the house of Bones and generally someone not to mess with, was not happy.

Death Eaters had broken into Hogwarts. Two of her Aurors were dead and another six would be confined to hospital beds for the foreseeable future. There had been yet another Dementor induced clusterfuck and the paperwork for that bloody mess was bound to end up on her desk sooner or later because Cornelius Fudge was a complete and utter moron and the gods had not yet created a sectary capable of counteracting his ineptitude. All things guaranteed to piss her off.

Oh, and her niece had gotten into a fight with a Rockwood and could easily have gotten killed, but thinking about that for too long would probably cause her to have a panic attack so she was ignoring that issue for now.

The normally pristine grounds of Hogwarts looked as though a muggle music festival had recently left, the floor of the entrance hall contained new and interesting ripple patterns and Shacklebolt wore an oddly serene expression as he saluted her.

Interesting. Shit, it appeared, had gone down and Kingsley had been right in the middle of it. Good.

"Report Shacklebolt. This had better be good."

"We captured Trelor, Svenson and Carrow." He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Well, I say we but more accurately Miss Granger and Miss Davis captured Trelor, Mr Weasley caught Svenson, or at least rendered him incapable of fighting back and Carrow basically surrendered after the Nightmares ran off after the Longbottom Lestrange Malfoy fight. Miss Bulstrode may actually have been mostly responsible for Svenson, but she is yet to confirm or deign."

Nightmares. Teenagers capturing Death Eaters. In Hogwarts.

"Huh. My niece?"

"Unharmed ma'm. She's in the hospital wing at the moment." Amelia raised an eyebrow at these conflicting statements, and Kingsley obediently explained himself. "She is guarding the ingered, ma'm. Miss Bulstrode, Mr Weasley and Mr Longbottom are showing signs of spell damage, Miss Davis and Miss Granger were exposed to the dementors and Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy are currently unconscious due to magical exhaustion. After the fiasco of last night the rest of the Hit Squad are unwilling to trust us with the security of their friends and are camped out in the hospital wing, with the blessing of Madame Pomfrey and most of their teachers."

Well, that seemed reasonable enough, though how they had gotten the teachers to agree…

"Have you started interviewing them yet?"

"No ma'm." He fell easily in behind her, but then Kingsley had never suffered from any of those male dominance issues that made a lot of her underlings behave stupidly. "Those children worry me on many levels and I completely refused to be left alone with them for any reason what so ever."

"Explain yourself."

"There was a moving of floors and usage of pikes and severed limbs being reattached. Just because some of them are out of it doesn't mean that the rest won't kill me in righteous fire, or unrighteous fire. Whichever comes to hand."Amelia watched him from the corner of her eyes as they walked. Kingsley was looking suspiciously un-glazed.

Had he been pushed beyond his capacity for weirdness reset? She hadn't realised that was even possible.

The hospital wing was full of light, teenagers, pre-teens and twitchy auror who were supposed to be guarding the Death Eaters that were yet to be removed but where actually dividing their time between the talking not yet adults and the bed where the sleeping Malfoy was curled around his half sister.

Cuteness from dark siders could be dangerous in ways no one ever expected. What was the girl doing here anyway? Amelia was almost certain that the girl was too young to start Hogwarts.

"Ma'm!"

The not yet adults became abruptly silent as her aurors saluted her, and Amelia felt her skin prickle as all those eyes assessed her with the cool eyes of those considering a potential threat.

"Hello auntie."

Conversation restarted in an audible release of tensions, and Amelia wondered if Susan had not just rescued her from a painful, or at least humiliating fight.

"Susan. Are you alright?"

"Yes auntie."

Amelia scaned her niece and finding no trace of discomfort in her posture nodded once.

"Alright then. We are going to talk about this later Susan, you have no idea how angry I am with you. You should never have risked yourself like that."

Susan raised her chin slightly and met her gaze with calm, unrepentant eyes. Her brother daughter was growing up, and growing up well.

"Madame Pomfrey, when can the Death Eaters be mov-"

The door to the infirmary slammed open, hit the wall and narrowly missed hitting Fudge as he stormed in. Dumbledore had to wait for it to shut before he could enter.

"-utter nonsense Albus! The dementors would never attack without provocation, they are perfectly obedient! Utter rubbish, this, this is the work of those insane children!"

"Minister…" Dumbledore trailed off as he looked at the battered door handle, apparently lost for words. "Perhaps we could focus on the Death Eaters?"

Fudge had noticed the aurors, but not Amelia herself, and was ignoring him.

"You! Why are you just standing around? Arrest them!"

There was a long moment of silence as everyone stared at the Minister and tried to work out if he was serious or not. Dumbledore put his hands over his face despairingly. Potter yawned hugely, rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"Ah, good morning?" He looked around, blinking sleepily and noticed the gently rocking Weasley boy. "Are you alright Ron?"

"They come out of the walls." said the redhead mournfully. "Like slugs."

"How very rude of them." The eldest redhead shrugged in response to Potters enquiring look. "Could they not use the door instead?"

"Er…" Ron frowned, brow wrinkling in confusion. "I don't think they have hands."

"That would only be a hindrance if round door handles were in use." stated Potter firmly. "These are bar handles, and could be operated by leaning on them. They have no cause to be coming though these walls."

Ron's expression was that of someone unexpectedly faced with a new and novel idea.

"I don't think that they exist."

"That would excuse them many things."

Amelia tried to remember if she had ever seen such an odd method of psychiatry before and Fudge visible shock himself.

"Potter! What did you do to my dementors?"

"Pardon?"

"My dementors boy! You killed my dementors!"

"Ah, no, I don't think I did actually. Most of them were already on fire by the time I reached them, and then I was unconscious."

Amelia looked at Susan, who indicated Malfoy with a flick of her fingers. At least it wasn't Hannah setting things alight this time. The girl was a worry, all the anger she never expressed, never seemed to feel, went into burning things.

"On fire!" squared Fudge, eyes narrowing. "Oh that thrice damned-"

He stalked towards Malfoy and his sister, both of whom had slept though everything thus far, drawing his wand and turning an unattractive shade of purple.

"Don't do it!"

"Do it! Do it!"

"Suicide is not the answer! Not here anyway!"

"Yes, do it somewhere else!"

"Minister, I really cannot advise-"

"And here we have a fine example of Darwinism."

Fudge ignored the mixed chorus of warnings and encouragement and jabbed his wand as the sleeping blond.

Amelia had never associated the portly Minister of Magic with fast reflexes, but he managed to avoid the knife that was hurled at him with nothing more than torn robes to mark its passage. On the other side of the room the eldest Weasley caught the blade by the black ribbon attached to the handle and then stared at it as though he had no idea as to how it had come to be in his hand.

Miranda Snape, or possibly Black or Prince, shifted slightly to maintain her balance as she crouched protectively over her still sleeping brother, tilted her head slightly so her hair fell away from her face to revel a deep blue death glare and produced another knife with a flick of her wrist.

"Do not. Threaten. My brother."

Fudge squeaked, sounding remarkably like a panicked rat, before turning his wand upon her and the two aurors guarding the Death Eaters went to detain the girl before she hurt anyone.

The students watched in silence, Amelia tried to work out if she should get involved and if so on which side, Dumbledore went very still and Malfoy work up.

There was a moment of general confusion as the half siblings adjusted to each other's fighting styles, followed by something Amelia could only classify as family bonding though violence.

Dark sider cuteness was dangerous in ways people did expect as well.

"Oh for the love of-"

The shutters slammed themselves shut, the shadows writhed and the two children were hauled off their victims –the fight was two one sided for Amelia to class her aurors and Fudge as opponents- before anyone had time to process Professor Snape's arrival.

"When I work out how to do this…" hissed Miranda, twisting against the shadows that held her plastered to the ceiling.

"World domination?" Zabini's tone was disturbingly mild.

"Not the entire world, just a large part of it."

In some ways it helped that Snape seemed no more than mildly irritated by this exchange. I others it only made it worse.

"Would you care to explain to me why the pair of you are picking fights with the authorities?"

"They started it!"

Snape raised an eyebrow and spoke a single word that dripped with disbelief.

"Really?"

"Yes really! Fudge was threatening Indigo!" She glowered. "He's my brother, no one is allowed to threaten him accept me."

Several of the students smiled at this pronouncement. Amelia decided not to ask why.

Incredulous obsidian eyes turned to the blond, whose shins were stuck to the ceiling as he hung over Potters bed in a shadowy straight jacket.

He blinked sleepily down at his step father.

"…Why am I on the ceiling?" a vague frown. "Magic feels fuzzy."

Snape blinked once and turned on Fudge with a glare that should have melted the Minister to a pool of goo on the spot. Malfoy arched in a way that suggested yoga and looked at Potter.

"You destroyed some dementors, Fudge pointed his wand at you, Miranda attacked the perceived threat they," Potter indicated the two battered aurors with a thumb, "attacked her any you attacked them. We captured three of the Death Eaters. The Lestranges?"

A glean of wakefulness revealed itself in a grimace.

"The dementors." Potter grimaced. "Though I must say, your response was a tad excessive. It was incredibly hard to put out."

Malfoy's spine moved in an improbable sort of way.

"You over reached yourself didn't you?"

Potter raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, but dementors are a pretty good excuse Ari."

"And the wounded are not?"

"They're called medi-witches and their good thing."

"But difficult to locate on a battlefield."

"Precisely why your aren't allowed to knock yourself on your arse."

"…Gravity must be drawing the blood to your head, you are never this coherent when you have only just woken up. Professor Snape." The silent outpouring of loathing was ended by Potters tone alone. "Put them down now. Please."

Miranda flipped to land in an elegant half crouch, her brother simply twisted though the air to flop onto Potters bed.

"..Still won."

Potter smiled fondly and stroked Malfoys hair away from his face.

"You are belligerent and ridiculous. Go back to sleep."

"Wanna see Sev main the div."

"There is no coffee to be had Indigo."

"Foiled by my caffeine addiction…"

The blond curled in against Potters side and seemed to doze off under the raven haired boys gentle hands and amused eyes.

Amelia was pleased to note that she was not the only one staring, though the students did appear to be more amused than surprised.

"Is there a problem?"

"How long have you been married and why wasn't I told?" asked Miranda, half glaring at Potter. "I'd have helped you elope!"

"Er…"

"Why would they need to elope?" asked Snape in a irritated tone. "Arabella has been planning their wedding for years."

"Er…"

"Oh, are they properly engaged then Papa?"

"No! No we really, really aren't!"

"Details details." said a pale girl with huge eyes, waving her hand dismissively.

This time even the kids looked startled. Potter in particular, who couldn't have looked more startled, or turned a deeper shade of red, if he had been hit with a bunch of tomatoes.

"Married straight out of school?" said the bulky 7th year. "Or just together forever with a few sprogs without ever making it official."

"I'm betting that they elope in the Christmas holidays of 7th year." said a bushy haired girl. "Just to scupper the wedding plans that we will undoubtedly have been making since 6th year at the latest."

"A civil ceremony in muggle London." suggested the Davis girl. "Followed by an obscure but legally binding bonding ceremony."

"Performed by a werewolf?"

"Naturally Mia."

Davis smiled warmly and the bushy haired girl blushed a delicate pink.

Ah, they were such sweet little lunatics.

"Oi! Any obscure bonding rituals will be performed by my mother, alright!" The boy with the mismatched eyes glared at the room in general. "Who is this arrogant shape shifter who presumes to usurp her awesome? We shall feast upon their liver!"

"They would have to have a very large liver, to constitute a feast." mused the Bulstrode girl, shifting over on her bed so Greengrass and Miranda could settle in for a cuddle. "Most would barely make a meal for two."

"Forced to expand by prolonged alcohol abuse!"

"We will not be married by an alcoholic!" snapped Potter, glowering. "If we are married at all, which you would have no say in anyway!"

"Match making may be necessary." said a black boy mildly.

"Dean. I know where you eat, I am good at potions. Do not make me poison you."

"Harry, dude." Ron, who appeared to have recovered from his hallucinations, gave him an odd look. "he is going to be hot in a few years. You know this. Why are you arguing?"

Potter stared at him for a moment and then appeared to consider this.

"This entire situation has veered wildly out of control." mused Amelia, finally giving voice to his thoughts of the last 5 minutes. "Kingsley get out of the corner, you're destroying our image. Minister what precisely do you want them arrested for?"

Amelia felt herself poised at a cross roads. Here she could take two routes, support the minister or the hit squad, and either way she would declare an allegiance that she could not later deny.

She chose a third path.

"Do you have a warrant to that affect, sir?"

"What? I don't need a warrant! I'm the minister of magic!"

"Aurors require a warrant to arrest a suspect sir. It is the law."

"B-but Im the minister for magic! You have to do as I say!"

"We must enforce the law sir, and that means that we need a warrant sir."

Fudge glared at her, Amelia thought herself into a stone wall and a few moments later the minister nodded curtly to her, turned and stalked out.

The hit squad were watching her with half wary expressions. Snape and his daughter wore identical expressions of surprised consideration. Susan looked at her with pride.

"Madame Pomfrey, are the Death Eaters stable enough to be moved to the holding cells."

Why did it seem like Dumbledore was glaring at the back of her head?

Xxxxxxxx

Bellatrix stood very still and gazed into the sun shadows. Her brother in law swayed at her side and her thoughts danced along the spider webs in her mind.

Dementors and fire and a red spell as the world lit up in lightning blue. She had been barren before Azkaban, she would never bare a child. Why was that of importance?

The Rockwoods stumbled into the clearing. He looked exhausted, she was thoughtful.

"Trelor was captured." stated Josephine briskly. "What happened to Carrow?"

"He goes in chains with our Norseman." cooed Bellatrix to the sky. "They have him now.!

Josephine swore violently into her husbands shoulder.

"Tell me something was gained from this fiasco. Tell me we gained something from this stupid, stupid attack."

For a moment Bellatrix watched blankly as the duo sought comfort in each other's arms. Then she smiled.

"Dementors burn and our lord lives still." Bellatrix turned back to the sunlight. "We should find him, yes?"

"How do you know this Bellatrix?"

"The mirror knows it is so."

They kept talking at her for a while, but Bellatrix ignored them and enjoyed the heat on her skin. It was so long since she had last been sunbathing, would she still tan properly?

She was barren, what curse had made her so?

Xxxxxxxxxx

The year ended in a flurry of gossip and castle wide confusion. Amelia had questioned and re-questioned until she was satisfied and then left, Fudge proceeded to tie himself in political knots and Dumbledore had remained silent in a way that could not have been more alarming if it had been designed to be so.

Harry gazed pensively out at the scenery as it flowed past the compartment window, and then turned his attention to the one sitting opposite him.

Slightly paler than he used to be, hair slightly better kept, a reduced tendency towards random bouts of swearing and a book on enchantments that Harry strongly suspected had been stolen from the restricted section. It might have been the effect of the dementors or the failure to deal with the Lestranges, but Indigo had been withdrawn since the attack.

The blond had a tendency to obsess over things. It was a useful trait in a ward crafter, but Harry had always hated when it was applied to fights.

Harry gave his friend a light kick on the ankle, met his eyes, glanced at the book and then raised an eyebrow.

Indigos mouth formed a croaked line, flicked to a certain page and handed him the book.

_Offensive enchantments for use upon… _Harry frowned at the fluffy language for a moment, and then returned the book on enchanted weaponry.

"I would like a chain saw."

"Tracy gets a chainsaw, if anyone does."

Harry considered this and smiled slightly.

"Not a hammer."

"Hermione."

Yes, that image was just a bit to perfect to disturb. Hermione needed a giant hammer. It had to be.

"A scythe then?"

A raised eyebrow was met with a sweet smile, and Indigo laughed before turning back to his book.

Harry smiled and glanced around, only to find that their compartment mates were glaring at them with various degrees of alarm and amusement.

"Is something the matter?"

"Did anyone else find that exchange disturbing?" asked Susan plaintively. "Anyone?"

"We were simply discussing weaponry Susan."

"There were not enough words spoken for that to be a discussion." stated Flare, ignoring Yuki's snickering. "Your mind twin act is seriously disturbing, please, for the sake of our minds, stop."

"At least until you're married." added Hannah brightly.

Indigo looked up and stared at her for a few minutes before turning to Harry for an explanation.

"The Hit squad is voting for us to be married before we are twenty."

Indigo blinked a couple of times before glaring at their companions. "This is not a democracy, and even if it was marriage is not decided by majority rulings. Any attempts to force the issue will meet with violence. Clear?"

They exchanged some unnerving little smiles and made absolutely no attempt to argue what so ever.

Indigo rubbed his forehead. Harry patted his hand.

"Ignore them. There is nothing else to be done."

"Don't pat me."

Harry hit his smile behind a potions book, and they both pretended that Indigo wasn't completely aware of how much he wanted to laugh.

* * *

The End. At long, long last.


End file.
